
Class \j ; 2<^/ 
Book._JL2J*Q_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSn^ 



Studies in Horse Breeding 

An lUu^rated Treatise on the 

Science and Pradtice of the 

Breeding of Horses 



By 

G. L. Carlson 



Published by the Author, 

Norfolk, Nebraska 

1910 



Price, $2.00 



'b 



Copyright 1910 

by 

G. L. Carlson 

All rights reserved 



THE KENYON COMPANY 

Prinrers and Binders 

Des Moines, Iowa 



CCI.A461509 



PREFACE. 

Two classes of men only, have I had in mind in the 
preparation of this text; the farmer-breeder, and the 
stallion or jack owner. The chief object has been to 
help in improving the horses of this country, and to 
be the means, in a measure at least, of employing 
better methods in their production. Our methods have 
been wasteful throughout all the years of horse breed- 
ing in this country. This has reference to time lost, 
as well as the wasting of the vital energies of our 
best sires. 

I have left nothing undone, to make brevity a strik- 
ing feature of the text. It was at first my intention 
to publish a large volume, but when I considered the 
little time the average breeder has to give for such 
work, I believed it better to give "The most possible, 
in the smallest possible space," without sacrificing any 
of the vital facts bearing upon the subject. 

No apologies are offered for the frequent reference 
to the draft horse. No one has a higher appreciation 
of the warm bred horse than the writer, yet the fact 
remains that the draft horse is the horse of, and for, 
the American farm. He can be produced as easily 
and cheaply as a steer, and will sell for three or four 
times as much. Then again, while I have made a few 
experiments with light horses in breeding, nearly all 
my work has been carried on with draft horses. It 



is my own experience, and the statistics gathered b}' 
myself, that I am recording. I have spent much time, 
and a vast sum of money in snch work, more I be- 
lieve than has ever been spent in snch work by all 
others together. One has only to consider some of the 
data collected to make this clear. 

To make the text of the most practical value to the 
breeder, technical terms have been studiously avoided. 
A few terms in common use have been given a mean- 
ing not always accorded them. The term "foal" is 
used to indicate the produce of a mare up to weaning 
time, without regard to sex. A "filly" is a female 
foal, while a "colt" is a male foal. Barrenness has 
reference to an unfruitful mare, while sterility refers 
to an unfruitful stallion. This makes it possible for 
one to know whether a mare or stallion is intended 
by the text itself. 

The kindly and courteous interest shown by the 
horse breeders in many states, in my investigations, 
have alwaj^s been a source of much pleasure to me. I 
also feel indebted to many veterinarians throughout 
the country, for their many words and acts of en- 
couragement. In this connection I wish to acknowledge 
my appreciation of the help extended to the horse 
breeding industry, by the Kansas City Veterinary Col- 
lege. Never before in the history of such education 
in this country, have a professional body of men don'^ 
SO' much to help a great industry. The same appreci- 
ation is due the Editor of the Stallion and Jack News, 
of Kansas City, Mo. It requires a large fund of both 
moral courage and enterprise, to embark in a new and 
untried field of endeavor. This journal is devoted ex- 



clusively, to the production of the best in horses and 
mules, and has taken a high position in advocating- 
better methods, and the practice of liiyher business 
ethics, in their production. 

After all is said, a work of this kind is the work of 
many, rather than one, and all who have helped by 
so much as an encouraging word, must share in its 
success. 

G. L. CARLSON. 

Norfolk, Nebraska, April. 1910. 



INTRODUCTORY. 

No industry connected with the soil, or carried on 
in connection with the farms of this country, has 
yielded so liberal returns for the labor and money em- 
ployed as the breeding of good horses. No live stock 
bred upon the farms of the United States has in- 
creased in value so rapidly, as horses and mules. In 
1869 the value of all horses and mules owned in the 
United States was $469,000,000. In 1899 the same live 
stock was valued at $607,000,000. At the present time 
the same live stock has reached the enormous sum of 
$2,500,000,000. 

Although the breeding of horses and mules is now 
one of our most profitable industries, yet little has 
ever been done in a public way to encourage it, hy 
either the Federal or State Governments, or to aid 
the farmer and breeder in adopting better methods of 
producing them. Bulletins without number, upon 
other subjects of much less importance have been 
annually forthcoming, yet nothing upon that of pro- 
ducing better horses, or of using more economical 
means in their production. 

The same is true of individual help, in the way of 
breeding horses. No embryologist has ever made a 
special study of the horse. There are reasons for this. 
The great Teutonic r.ace has furnished the most emi- 
nent embryologists. In their native land, even more 



than elsewhere, horses have always represented too 
high a value to be sacrificed for such purposes. Mares 
dying and which could be had for investigation of this 
kind, were usually non-breeders, because of old age. 
So far as the horse is concerned, how the ovaries per- 
form their various functions ; how, when, and where 
conception takes place ; or of the early development 
of the foetus and foetal membranes, nothing is really 
known. 

The world's urgent need today, is for more men with 
special training to carry on its great work. In its 
last and best analysis, the business of breeding horses 
does not differ from that of any other. Only those 
best fitted, best equipped for the business shall sur- 
vive. No rapid progress in producing better horses, 
need be expected, until more scientific means be em- 
plo3"ed in producing them. 

Then again, I believe one is justified in appealing to 
the civic pride of the country, which is more or less 
developed in all mankind, upon the question of pro- 
ducing better horses. I have observed that throughout 
all the rural world, the best and highest type of citi- 
zenship is alwaj^s to be found in the districts of the 
best bred stock. To improve the live stock of a coun- 
try, is a potent means of raising the standard of its 
citizenship. The production of high-class animals, calls 
into activity intelligence of the highest order. 

No country is better fitted by reason of its climate ; 
its nutritious grasses ; its abundance of grain ; its pure 
water; and the high intelligence -of its breeders for the 
production of high-class horses, than a large part of the 



United States. No better evidence of this is needed 
than the fact, that in nearly all the breeds we have 
produced man}^ specimens, unsurpassed in any country, 
and what can be done by a few breeders can be done 
by others. 



CHAPTER I. 



CONCEPTION. 

How Life Begins. Conception has been defined by 
most writers as being the union of two cells. It is 
more ; it is the beginning of a life. This life principle 
is a creation of the stallion. It is the stallion who 
nshers into being this new life. The mare complete.^ 
this life. Every organ, as well as the true entity of 
the future horse is the gift of the stallion ; yet this new 
life absorbs quite as many impressions from the mare 
during its foetal existance, as it received at its creation 
from the stallion. The stallion endows this new life 
v^ith every organ and function of the future horse — 
brain, eyes, thorax, nerves, muscles, generative organs 
and all; yet during its foetal life, it absorbs quite as 
much of the individual character of the mare, as it 
received from the stallion at its creation. 

The Creative Forces of Nature, All that has, or ever 
will be known of the origin of life, is based upon this 
one fundamental truth: All forces of Nature are divis- 
ible into two classes, those that are creative and those 
that are destructive. Conception must be the result of 
the creative forces of Nature. Life must have its be- 
ginning, a primal prerequisite of all things. This the 
stallion supplies in the form of semen, in which we 



12 srrniKs ix iiohsk nRKKOiKo 

find spermatozoa. They are oroanized. Another funda- 
mental truth in the science of life is that no where can 
we find where Nature has ever given us a part of a 
whole. These spermatozoa have heads, they have tails, 
they have thoracic structures. We can see them move. 




Figure 1. The semen of a sterile stallion, showing seminaT 
granules, or corpuscles, but no spermatozoa. (Sketched.) 

hence we know they have muscles and nerves. To 
have brains, and thorax, and muscles and nerves is 
enough to know that they have all other organs. 

Spermatozoa. If, however, I was asked to describe' 
in a general way of what the seminal fluid of a stal- 
lion was composed, I would reply by saying that it 
consists of a multitude of minute bodies, about 1-1200 



C■O^^CEPTIO?J 



13 



of an inch in diameter, and 1-300 of an inch in length, 
and presenting' great activity in their motions. These 
are floated in the liquor seminus, a homogeneous fluid, 
in which we observe minute rounded corpuscles, the 
seminal granules, shown in figure 1. These vary greatly 
in size in the semen of different stallions, and in some 




Figure 2. Spermatozoa of the stallion, showing clusters of 
the large granules. (240 diameters.) 



stallions we find two kinds of granules, differing wide- 
ly in size. In some instances, a magnification of 200 
diameters will disclose small clusters of granules, of 
two to a dozen granules in a cluster, and appearing 
sufficiently large with that magnification to be counted. 
These are shown in figure 2. If this semen be placed 
under a higher magnification, the smaller granules 



14 STUDIES IN HOESE BREEDING 

found in all semen will be disclosed as shown in figure 
1. These smaller granules are about 1-2000 of an inch 
in diameter. 

Relative Size of Spermatozoa. In twenty-seven years 
of investigation, I have never found two spermatozoa 
of the same size, even in the same discharge, when 




•^i^o^^ 



Figure 3. The beginning of a life. Spermatozoon entering 
the ovum of the mare. 

measured with the photo-micrograph. The size of the 
stallion has little to do with the size of the spermatozoa. 
They are relatively larger in small stallions than in 
large ones. An imported Shetland stallion weighing 
350 pounds, discharged spermatozoa about one-half the 
size of those from a Shire stallion weighing 2250 
pounds, nearly seven times as large as the pony. The 



CONCEPTION 15 

spermatozoa of Shire stallions are slightly larger than 
those of any other breed. Figure 4 shows a sperma- 
tozoon greatly magnified. For the benefit of those 
who have never had any experience with work of that 
kind, I will say that Photo-micrograph shows a smaller 
diameter than appears to the eye with the same mag- 
nification. 




Figure 4. Spermatozoon of the horse. (Greatly magni- 
fiedj 

The Sexual Organs of the Stallion, The origin of 
spermatozoa will require some study of the generative 
organs of the stallion, the most important ones being 
shown in figures 5 and 6. Semen must have its start- 
ing point. This is in the testicles, which are composed 
of smaller glands, numbering into the hundreds in 
eases of great sexual vigor. These glands are conical, 



16 



STUDIES IN HORSE HREEDIXC 



with their apex pointing upwards, forming' a duct to 
carry secretions along until all merge into -a smaller 
iiumher of principle ducts, now ascending and empty- 
ing into the endidymis, which now doubles upon itself, 
working back and forming the vas deferens. The vas 
deferens or great duct, ascends through the inguinal 
ring, where riipture or hernia sometimes puts in its 
appearance. This semen is now floated around the 




Figure 5. The testicle of the stallion with other glands 
dissected of their serous covering: 1, testicle; 2, the secretory 
glands; 3, vasa efferentia; 4, endidymis (epididymis) ; 5, vas 
aberrans; 6, vas deferens; 7, spermatic artery. 



bladder, in order to be vivified, or given life, by the 
secretions of the seminal vesicles, a couple of glands 
located upon the bladder. Before these life germs re- 
ceive this tluid, they show no signs of life. They also 
receive another fluid from the prostrate gland. As to 
the true origin of spermatozoa, I have yet to ever 
find one in the testicles of a stallion. I do not wish 
to be understood as saying the}^ do not originate there, 



CONCEPTION 17 

yet in many years of eager effort in that direction, I 
have never been able to find one there. Many others 
report finding them there, bnt I never could. I have, 
however, found them all the way from the endidymis 
to the prostrate gland, but never showing signs of life, 
until the seminal vesicles are reached. This has been 




Figure 6. The secretory glands upon the bladder dissected 
of their serous covering: 1, bladder; 2, 2, vas deferens; 3, 3, 
seminal vesicles; 4, prostrate gland; 5, ureter; 6, uretha. 

one of the unfathomed mysteries to me, since by re- 
moving the testicles, the stallion is soon made sterile; 
yet I have found the semen of a horse fertile eleven 
days after castration 

Nourishment of Spermatozoa. The master passion of 
spermatozoon life is appetite, as is evidenced by every 



18 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

act and. movement. There is no question concerning 
the fact, that they receive their nourishment by ab- 
sorption both before and after conception. The tail 
as it appears during its spermatozoon life acts as a 
rudder and means of locomotion to aid it in moving 
about, and for want of a better term, I will call it a 
temporary necessity, as it is lost at conception. This 
fact is shown at figure 3. 

Vitality of Spermatozoa. The life force of sperma- 
tozoa depends much upon the sexual vigor of the stal- 
lion from whence they came. They are known to retain 
their vitality for thirty days. In dissecting a mare 
that had been killed at a railroad crossing 27 days 
after she had. been bred, I found thousands of live 
spermatozoa in the vagina, uterine cavity and intest- 
inal cavity. In this case, conception had taken place, 
I should say about three weeks previous. I have 
kept them under artificial conditions for fifteen days. 
At the end of this time, I found every spermatozoon 
active and apparently vigorous. However, I made many 
failures before I sueeeded in doing this. To succeed 
in keeping spermatozoa alive for any considerable time, 
one must prevent them from coming in contact with 
either light or air. The bottle or tube they are to be 
kept in must first be sterilized with boiling water. If 
kept in jar, bottle or culture tube, these must be 
black so as to exclude all light. My success in this 
came as a result of filling and sealing a small black 
bottle from the vagina of a mare that had just been 
served by a stallion. I believe the vitality of sperma- 
tozoa depends very much upon the period of gestation 



CONCEPTION 19 

of the genus to which they belong. In testing the vital- 
ity of the spermatozoa of rodents, under artificial con- 
ditions, I found they would keep only a few hours. 
Canines a little longer. Swine two days and sheep 
three days. Experiments testing the longevity of sper- 
matozoon life with regard to color resulted in red 
being next below black, then yellow, green, blue and 
white. 

Bacteria Destroy Spermatozoa. Light, air and bac- 
teria are the three most destructive forces of sperma- 
tozoon life. I have found some forty species of bac- 
teria destructive of spermatozoa, some of them proving 
fatal to their existence instantly. The direct rays of 
the sun will destroy them in less than a minute. Fig- 
ures 2 and 3 are good illustrations of the effect of air 
and even a shaded light. Figure 2 shows spermatozoa 
abo'ut 30 minutes after they were discharged by the 
stallion. The bend or curve in the tails of all, is evi- 
dence of their mobility and vitality. Figure 3 shows 
spermatozoa from the same discharge about six hours 
later. All showing with heads one way (from the 
light) is evidence that the light was painful to them. 
As all are straight is evidence motion had about ceased. 
Very soon after death, they mysteriously disappear as 
a result of some unseen agency. 

Number of Spermatozoa In One Discharge The num- 
ber of spermatozoa in one discharge of a stallion is 
anywhere from 10,000 to 75,000, depending upon the 
sexual vigor of the stallion, and the frequency of ser- 
vice. A good vigorous stallion upon one service per 
day will discharge from 50,000 to 75,000 of them at one 



20 



STi'DiES i.\ lioiiSK i;i!i:i:i)i.\ti 



disehai'i^e. The amount of fluid discharged at each ser- 
vice of a stallion is fi'oni four to twelve ounces. The 




Figure 7. The genital organs of tiie stallion, shown from 
the right side: 1, right testicle; 2, 3, vas deferens; 4, seminal 
vesicle; 5, prostrate gland; 6, urethra; 7, Cowper's glands; 
9, fold of peritoneum ; 10, vessels and nerves of left testicle 
cut off; 11, abdominal ring; 12, urinary bladder. 



less frequent the service, the larger the amount of 
fluid, and the higher the number of spermatozoa. 



CONCEPTION 21 

Jacks. Jacks do not discharge as much fluid as a 
stallion, nor does this fluid contain as many sperma- 
tozoa. The spermatozoa of jacks are not as tenacious 
of life, as those of stallions. Scientifically speaking, 
no jack is as sure a breeder as a sure stallion. This is 
especially true when mated with mares, as the pro- 
ducing of hybrids is never as certain in the case of all 
animal life, as when the mating is of one species. There 
is a widely distributed belief to the contrary, but it is 
an erroneous one. Because of their temperamental dif- 
ference, jacks make more complete service than stal- 
lions; that is to say, they deposit the semen in the 
uterus more often than stallions. This better service 
would result in a larger foal production, even with a 
lower vitality of the spermatozoa. 

The Mare, As a Factor in Conception. Thus we 
learn that the stallion creates. It is he who originates 
life, while the mare furnishes the surroundings and 
support for the development of the embryo. Some 
place in which to be is as indispensable a condition of 
material existence as magnitude or form. Nothing can 
be, without being somewhere. This life germ must 
have some place in which to develop all its delicate or- 
gans. It requires both protection and warmth, as well 
as nourishment. This receptacle must be something 
which can receive and hold that seminal liquor in 
which it is floated from stallion to mare. Nature has 
very wisely provided the uterus of the mare for this 
important work. But this is not all, for in addition to 
this, the mare's nature in a measure, both organic and 
mental, must be incorporated in with its mental and 



22 



STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 




Figures. The genital organs of the mare: 1, 2, ovaries; 
3, 4, horns of the uterus; 5, body of the uterus; 6, fallopian 
tube; 7, cervix, or mouth and neck of the uterus; 8, vagina; 
9, meatus urinarius, or vent of bladder; 10, clitoris, or female 
penis; 11, 12, broad ligaments. 



CONCEPTION 



23 







24 STUDIliS IX IIORSK I!RKKI)IK(i 

})rincipal organic structure. This leads up to another 
thought; to another step toward the begiuiiing of a life. 
This step in the evolution of a life, calls for the ovum 
of the mare. A study of the ovum and germ cell of 
the mare, will require some knowledge of her genital 
organs, which are shown in figure 8. So far as con- 
ception is concerned, the ovaries are the organs of 





Figure 10. The ovum of the mare. (Five diameters.) 

chief importance. In shape the ovaries resemble a 
lima bean, and are attached to the broad ligaments. 
They are the mare's first essential female element. Be- 
neath their serous covering, lies their main substance, 
the tunica albuginea. This is a fibrous tissue full of blood 
vessels, which executes their chief function by devel- 
0})ing numerous small, round transparent vesicles in 



CONCEPTION 25 

various stages of growth, known as the Graffian, which 
in turn develop the ova. 

The Ovum. The ovum is a small roundish sack of 
food, composed chiefly of albumen, and containing all 
the materials of nutrition and growth required by the 
foetus for about 28 days after concepticm, and shown 
in figures 10 and 11. Its outer wall is known as the 




Figure 11. Ovum of the mare, cross section. A, germinal 
vesicle; B, yolk; C, zona pellucida. 



zona pellucida. The contents of the ovum are, the 
yolk, which is yellow and is very finely granular; the 
germinal vesicle, representing the nucleus ; and the 
germinal spot, wdiich is the true germ cell. We some- 
times hear the ovum spoken of as the germ cell, but the 
true germ cell is only a small part of the ovum. These 
ova mature in continuous succession from as early as 
the seventh month, to the end of the mare's usefulness 



26 



STUDIES IN HOKSE BREEDING 



as a breeder, which sometimes continues for thirty 
years. The size of the ovum varies greatly in different 
mares, averaging about 1-12 of an inch in diameter. 
The size of the mare has nothing to do with the size of 
the ovum matured and discharged. I have found them 
all the way from 1-40 of an inch, to 3-8 of an inch in 




Figure 12. Spermatozoa attracted by an ovum. 



diameter. The germinal vesicle and the germinal spot, 
do not vary in size to any great extent. The germinal 
vesicle is about 1-150 of an inch in diameter, while the 
germinal spot is about 1-1500 of an inch in diameter. 

Ovaries Authorities have so differed, in fact so 
little was really known of the natural laws regulating 
the heat periods, that I purchased 107 pony mares, to 
be used for the purpose of ovarian studies. The first 



CONCEPTION 



27 



thing I gave my attention to was the time the ovum 
was discharged, with reference to the heat period. 
From twelve to fifteen of these mares would be taken 
up and used at one time. They would be tried with 
the stallion daily, until two heat periods had passed, 
that a record of these periods might be Kept, both as to 
frequency and duration. The first day following that 
upon which thej^ would refuse to mate with the stal- 
lion, they would be put to death and the ovaries ex- 
amined. Only in one case out of the hundred mares 
did I find the ovum had been discharged, before the 
heat period had passed. This one was the case of an ir- 
regular mare, one that was irregular in her heat 
periods. Here we have very conclusive proof that it 
is the development, rather than the discharge of the 
ovum that produces the heat period. Only in one of 
the hundred mares did both ovaries mature an ovum 
during the same period. In other words, one out of 
the hundred mares would have produced twins if bred. 
Therefore it is safe to say that only one ovary acts, or 
develops an ovum at each heat period. Of all the ova 
I have ever examined, I have never found two germinal 
spots in the same ovum. "Two years previous to this 
investigation, I removed the right ovary from ten 
mares, and the left from ten other mares. This was 
-done in October. The following spring, I began trying 
these mares daily, and continued the record three 
months before breeding them. Seventeen of the twenty 
mares came in heat every 42 days, one of them every 
28 days, and the other two in every 21 days. The 
second year only seven of them went 42 days between 



28 STUDIES IN HORSE P.KEEDING 

heat periods, and the third year, only one of them. 

Union of Spermatozoon and Ovum. We have now 
completed another step in the process of creating a 
new life, and a very important step. We have learned 
from whence comes the life germ. We have learned 
from whence comes the germ cell, or foetal home of 
the embryo life. The most important step and the 
one most interesting to students of the science of life, 
is the union of these two forces. This necessaril.y 
calls forth another of those fundamental truths. All 
animal life is carried on by the positive and negative 
forces of sexual magnetism, or electricity. The sper- 
matozoa are positive. The ovum and' germ cell are 
negative. .Place an ovum of a mare in the fertile 
semen of a stallion, and watch the results. Under nor- 
mal conditions, it seems impossible that conceptioii 
could be prevented. About one-half of all spermatozoa 
within a certain distance, without regard to direction 
will at once start for that ovum, and all will work them- 
selves around to the side against which the germinal 
spot is located. The ovum is to them such a magnet, 
that it seems impossible for any of them to break away 
from its influence. In all my experience with work 
of this kind, I have never seen any of the spermatozoa 
turn their heads away from the ovum, until concep- 
tion takes place, when all at once they can all be seen 
to turn away from it. There is an actual visible strife 
as to which one is to be favored with admission to 
that ovum and cell. Finally one is successful, he has 
found the tube or duct leading to the germ cell. As 
a result of both magnetic attraction and force, he 



CONCEPTION 



29 



enters therein, and a new life is begnn. See figures 12 
and 3. 

Artificial Conception. There is one more thought 
referable to this subject, and one that is of interest, 
both to the breeder and student. Is artificial concep- 
tion possible? It was only a few years ago that many 
people believed artificial insemination impossible. To- 
day, the best and most progressive breeders through- 
out the horse-breeding world, are using that method in 
their breeding business. Since these terms may be new 
to many, to define or explain them will not be out of 
place. By artificial insemination is meant, the impreg- 
nation of the mare without the direct agency of a stal- 
lion, the most general plan being by what is known as 
the capsule method. Artificial conception is the begin- 
ning of a new life, and development of the foetus, 
without the direct agency of the mare. Artificial in- 
semination has a large economic value, while artificial 
conception has no such value, not even being practical, 
yet it has a scientific value all its own, in explaining 
a way many breeding mysteries, which might never 
be so fully explained in any other manner. It is too 
expensive to be practical, even for experimental work, 
since a mare must be destroyed to obtain an ovum 
capable of being impregnated. If light, air and bac- 
teria are guarded against with scrupulous care, arti- 
ficial conception is more certain in its results, than ar- 
tificial insemination. It would require a very expen- 
sive plant to nourish the foetus to maturity, but I 
have many times continued life and development to 
around thirty days, the longest time being 33 days. 



30 



STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 



These experiments were carried on with a culture tube 
only. Usually the ovum contains sufficient food to 
nourish the foetus for 28 to 33 days. As soon as the 
act of conception was completed, I would place the 
foetus in a culture tube, in which had been prepared a 
solution of salt, about 75-100 of one per cent. I have 
made enough of these artificial conceptions, that I 




Figure 13. Embryo of the horse, artificially conceived. 



have had them for examination upon every day from 
the third to the thirty-third. At about the thirty -third 
day, the sex character becomes observable. Figures 13 
and 14 are foetuses artificially developed. 

Placenta. One observation I have made enables me 
to announce that the skin of the ovum (Zona Pellu- 
cida) becomes the placenta of the future foetus. That 



CONCEPTION 



31 



there is any connection of the circulation of the blood 
between the foetus and mare, need no longer be be- 
lieved. Nourishment can be supplied by absorption 
only. If any still doubt this fact, let me ask them how 
nourishment is supplied in cases of extra uterine con- 
ception. I have known of three mares conceiving thus, 
one foetus being carried by the mare for eleven months 




Figure 14. Embryo of the horse, artificially conceived. 

and three days from the last service of the stallion. 
This foetus was well developed and of normal size, but 
thin in flesh. Even as regards intra uterine conception, 
the foetus is not always attached to the membranes 
of the uterus. Such cases are quite common. Many 
of the readers of this chapter have owned mares which 
produced foals in this manner. Such a condition can 



32 STUDIES lA' HOUSE J1REE])IXG 

always be recognized if one is present when the mare 
gives birth to her foal, by the fact that foetns and 
placenta are expelled together. In such cases, if one 
is not present to open the placenta, the foal will soon 
smother. I have carefully examined both placenta 
and the mucous membranes of the uterus in such cases, 
and found no evidence whatever of any attachment. 
A mare carrying and nourishing her foetus in such a 
manner is more likely to abort, than when the foetus 
is carried in a normal manner. I believe that 90 per 
cent of the cases of accidental abortion are of such a 
nature. In nearly every case of accidental abortion, the 
placenta is expelled intact with the foetus. 

Observations on Conception. The year following 
that in which experiments were made in ovarian 
studies, reference to which has already been made in 
this chapter, I conducted experiments in conception 
with another hundred mares. Some of these were de- 
stroyed for the purpose of obtaining the ovum, with 
which to carry on further experiments in artificial 
conception. Others would be bred by the capsule meth- 
od and destroyed from five to sixty days later, but 
always upon a day that was a multiple of five. To have 
a thorough understanding of the law of conception, will 
again make it necessary to refer to the genital organs 
of the mare, as shown in figures 8 and 9. The more 
we stud.y these organs and their varied functions, the 
more the wonder, not that so few foals are produced, 
but that there are so many. There is no tube or duct 
to convey the ovum from the ovaries directly to the 
uterus. The fallopian tubes are very narrow in their 



CONCEPTION 33 

middle portion, but are much wider at their anterior 
extremities. This anterior or forward extremity is the 
true orifice of the fallopian tube, and is provided with 
several finger-like projections, known as the fimbria. 
It is the office of the fimbria to catch and hold the ova, 
as they are discharged from the ovaries. By contrac- 
tion and continued pressure, as a result of this con- 
traction, the ovum is forced backward through the 
fallopian tube into the horn of the uterus. In case of 
paralysis, or other failure on the part of the fimbria 
to perform their function, there is nothing to prevent 
the ova from falling forward into the intestinal cavity. 
If spermatozoa have been introduced into the uterus 
of the mare, they too, can work themselves upward 
and forward through the fallopian tube, and thence 
into the intestinal cavity. Should they come in con- 
tact with an ovum which has dropped forward into 
this cavity, conception will be the result there, just as 
readily as if it were in the uterus. In this event we 
have an extra uterine conception. In case the fimbria 
properly perform their function, conception may take 
place very soon after the ovum has been discharged 
from the ovary. But in all the observations made, 
conception took place nearly every time at the narrow 
place in the middle of the fallopian tube. Only once 
was a fertilized ovum found in the uterus, within fif- 
teen days after semen had been introduced into it. In 
one instance a foetus was found in the middle, small 
portion of the fallopian tube 30 days after breeding. 
In this instance conception must have taken place very 
soon after semen had been introduced into the uterus, 
for the foetus was as large as a bee. When the ovum 



34 STUDIES IN IIORGE BREEDING 

discharged is unusually large, I believe conception aids, 
rather than retards its passage through the fallopian 
tube. The contraction of the fallopian tube behind 
will cause the foetus to work forward as a result of its 
own growth. I have never found a foetus attached to 
the walls of the uterus during the first fifteen days 
following service, except in the fallopian tube. 

Several times in dissecting mares that have refused 
to breed, I have found a tumorous growth in the 
middle of the fallopian tube, which I have every reason 
to believe was the result of ova lodging there, and 
which the system of the mare had failed to absorb, 
thus permanently closing those tubes. 

The vitality or life of the germ cell in the ovum, 
will last from five to seven days. It may be capable of 
fertilization some longer when kept under natural con- 
ditions, but the sixth day was the longest I was ever 
able to keep one in a condition to be capable of fer- 
tilization. 

First Lessons in the Origin of Sex. The most inter- 
esting experiments in the study of creative science are 
those of conception. Figures 13 and 14 show foetuses 
resulting from artificial conception. Some of the deep- 
est mysteries concerning the origin of a life, quickly 
disappear as a result of artificially produced impreg- 
nations. No sooner is an ovum placed among sper- 
matozoa under proper conditions, than mysteries be^ 
gin to fade. Here is given us our first lesson 
in the origin of sex. In most instances only 
25 to 75 per cent of the spermatozoa will be at- 
tracted to a given ovum. To these the ovum is 
such a magnet that it seems impossible for them to re- 



CONCEPTION 35 

sist it, or to turn away from it. I have never yet 
observed one to be able to turn from it. Its head is 
always to the ovum, yet the instant conception take.s 
place, the ovum has lost all its magnetic influence over 
the others. Place another ovum from another mare 
of a different magnetic temperament among these same 
spermatozoa and one observes an entirely different num- 
ber of spermatozoa that are attracted to it. The first 
ovum will attract one sex of the spermatozoa, and the 
other ovum will attract only the other sex. The ovum 
from a mare very negative in character will attract only 
the male spermatozoa. The ovum of a mare very positive 
in character will attract the female spermatozoa only. 
The ovum of a passive or neutral mare has but little 
attraction for spermatozoa of either sex, and may be 
impregnated with either. This explains why some 
mares never produce but one sex, while others produce 
both. It also explains why some stallions sire a high 
per cent of one sex. I owned one imported stallion 
that in six years sired 81 per cent of fillies," while 
another in a service of four years sired 76 per cent 
of colts. In the case of both stallions, the per cent 
was practically the same every year. This is an in- 
herited tendency. 

An ovum and a spermatozoon may be. so magnet- 
ically alike that there is no attraction be'tween them. 
A very positive mare often fails to settle when mated 
with a very positive stallion, but settles at orice when 
mated with a less positive one. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE FOETUS AND FOETAL MEMBRANES OP 
THE HORSE. 

In writing the preceding chapter I had in mind the 
breeder only. I studiously tried to portray Nature's 
plan of conception in a manner to interest him. I 
can appreciate that such a portrayal would have little 
interest to the student or embryologist. "While the 
text throughout this work will be written with a view 
to meeting the requirements of the breeder and stal- 
lioner, this chapter will be in part an exception. This 
has been made necessary, because of the fact, that no 
where in all the standard text books upon the sub- 
ject of embryology, has a single reference been made 
to the development of the foetus or foetal membranes 
of the horse. 

One may make a careful study of the works of 
Caldwell, Edwards, Eschricht, Hennig, liertwig, 
Haacke, Hoffman, Kolliker, Reichert, Lowe, Beigel, 
Ahlfeld, Kollman, Thomson, Bruess, Spec, Owen, Os- 
born, Fol, Turner, or Waldeyer and he'finds no refer- 
ejice to any experimenting with the ovum of a mare. 

The Hen's Egg and the Ovum of the Rabbit have fur- 
nished the material for most of the investigations upon 



THE FOETUS AND FOETAL MEMBRANES OF THE HOESE 37 

this subject. That there was a difference in the de- 
velopment of the foetuses of the different mammalia, 
has been noted by several embryologists. Both Owen 
and KoUiker have noted the difference in the outer 
embryonic membranes of the marsupials as compared 
with other mammals. The outer foetal membranes of 
marsupials retain a smooth surface, while most of the 
other mammals develop villi upon the chorion, which 
grow into the maternal mucous meribrane. 

The Foetal Membranes of Marsupials are never at- 
tached to the maternal membranes, while in most other 
mammals they are. In the case of the mare, they are 
sometimes attached and sometimes not. In no case 
are they ever attached as firmly as in the case of most 
other mammals. 

Another Thing Peculiar to the Mare, is the quick- 
ness of development through the early stages of foetal 
growth, more rapid than that of any other mammal. 
In no other mammal can sex character be determined 
as early as the thirty-third day, when the gestation is 
any where near as long as that of the mare. The egg 
of the mare contains more yolk than most mammals, 
although the ovum is relatively smaller than in many' 
others. And lastly, the place of the attachment of the 
foetal membranes is more uncertain, more irregular 
than in the case of any mammal. 

The Theory of the Germ-layer development will not 
be discussed in this chapter. That the foetus is thus 
developed is well known to all embryologists, and a 
want of space makes it impossible to take up the 
subject in a manner that would prove satisfactory to 



38 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

those unfamiliar with the theory. The development of 
the foetus will be illustrated after the manner adopted 
by Kolliker. The location of the foetus in the uterus 
will be illustrated from drawings made by myself. 

Reference has already been made to the several ways 
in which the foetal membranes of mammals are devel- 
oped. This will necessitate a brief classification of 
mammals into groups, to the end that the growth and 
development of the foetal membranes of the horse may 
be the better understood. 

In the early stages of development the foetal mem- 
branes of mammals, present a striking similarity to 
those of reptiles and birds. One finds a yolk-sac, an 
amnion, a serous membrane or chorion, and an allan- 
tois. One finds that the embryo is united with the 
extra-embryonic area in the same manner, by means 
of a dermal and intestinal yolk-stalk. But in mam- 
mals as soon as the yolk is exhausted, some portion 
of the foetal membranes are converted into an organ 
of nutrition for the embryo, by entering into closer re- 
lation with the mucous membrane of the uterus. In 
some instances they are very simple, in others more 
complicated organs. 

Because of These Differences in the manner of draw- 
ing sustenance from the maternal membranes, mammals 
are divided into three groups or classes. 

The First is where the serosa (chorion) is retained 
in its primitive condition. To this gpoup belong the 
marsupials, or mammals, such as the kangaroo. In 
these mammals the chorion retains its smooth surface 
and as it lies close to the mucous membranes of the 



THE lOKTUS AND FOETAI. MEMBRANES OF THE HORSE 39 

uterus, it can absorb nourishment from the latter and 
transmit it to the deeper lying embryonic parts, with- 
out being attached to it. 

In the Second Group of mammals, intra-uterine nour- 
ishment is effected by the serosa being converted into 
a villous layer, or true chorion. In this group the mu- 
cous membranes of the uterus and the chorion generally 
unite. 

A Special Organ, the placenta, has been developed 
in the third group for the purpose of intra uterine 
nutrition. This condition has been made possible by 
separate portions of the chorion having assumed dif- 
ferent characters, owing to the unequal size and dis- 
tributions of the villi. Some parts of the chorion may 
have no villi, and the chorion smooth, while in 
other parts may be found villi extremely long, the 
latter being very firmly attached to the membranes 
of the uterus. When many of these parts have arisen 
on one chorion they are called cotyledons. These are 
found in the ruminants. 

Mammals That do not Develop Villi on the surface 
of the outer embryonic membrane are known as achor- 
ia, while those who develop villi are known as chor- 
iata. Foetal and maternal parts of the placenta can 
thus become more firmly united with each other. The 
result is that at birth a larger or smaller tract of the 
mucous membrane of the uterus is also cast off, and 
is known as the decidua. This is less noticeable in the 
mare than any other mammal, while in the human sub- 
ject the entire membrane is cast off. 

Returning to the original subject, that of the de- 



40 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

velopment of the foetus and foetal membranes of the 
horse. In figure 15, is shown a vesicle or foetus at the 
fifth day of development. The middle germ-layer is in 
full process of development, yet no folding process has 
as yet taken place. In figure 16, the middle germ- 
layer has spread out over and now encloses an easily 
distinguishable body cavity. The embryonic funda- 



Figure 15. Development of the foetus. Fifth day after con- 
ception. A, fundament of the embryo; B, villi; C, yolk. 

ment is in the act of being constricted off from the 
blastodermic vesicle. The head and tail of the em- 
bryo', by foldings of the seperate layers, have been ele- 
vated from the area pellucida, and a cephalic and 
pelvic part of the intestinal tract, (the fore and hind 
gut) have arisen, with an anterior and posterior en- 
trance, which open toward the cavity made by the 
folding of the vesicle. 

At the same time occurs the development of the am- 



TIIK FOETUS AND FOETAL MEMBRANES OF THE HORSE 41 

nion, which is the inner sac, in which floats the em- 
bryo. In the figure above referred to, one can see 
that the anterior fold of the amnion has bent over the 
head, and the posterior fold, over the tail. The outer 
sac, which later must frequently be referred to, is the 
chorion. In some of the mammals these two sacs be- 
come one toward the end of gestation, but in the 
horse they do not. 

A, 



Figure 16. The development of the foetus; seventh day 
after conception: A, embryo; B, villi; C, yolk sac. 



In figure 17, it will he noticed that the amniotic folds 
have not only greatly enlarged, but have grown toward 
each other until their edges meet over the back of the 
foetus. In the horse this meeting of the amniotic fold 
occurs at the ninth day, earlier than in any other mam- 
mal known. At this stage of development, or slightly 
earlier, one first recognizes the first trace of the allan- 
tois, which is the excretory sac, and most important 



42 



STUDIES IN HORSE BEEEDING 



organ of respiration. It takes its origin from the 
posterior portion of the hind gut, at a time when the 
walls of this gut are still in process of formation. It 
enlarges rapidly into a vesicle, which grows out into the 
body cavity. At the same time the blind end en- 
larges, while the proximal part becomes narrow, form- 
ing into a hollow stalk, the urinary duct or urachus. 




Figure 17. Development of the foetus; ninth day: 
foetus; B, meeting of amnion and serosa; C, villi. 



A, 



In figure 18, can be seen a foetus of the mare at the 
eleventh day. At this stage of development the chor- 
ion (serosa) has become completely detached from the 
amnion. This also differs in different mammals. It 
is at this stage that the serosa permanently becomes 
the chorion. This has been brought about by the first 
appearance of villi upon the outer surface of the se- 
rosa. These villi are but small evaginations, or hair 



THE FOETUS AND FOETAL MEMBEANES OF THE HOESE 43 

like growths, upon the outer surface of the ovum. In 
all the figures illustrating this chapter the villi are 
shown at either pole of the ovum, but it is not until 
the eleventh day that they make their actual appear- 
ance. These villi groAV into the membrane of the uter- 
us, thus uniting the foetal and maternal membranes. 
Rarely does one ever find the branching form of 
villi in the foetal membranes of the horse, as in those 




Figure 18. Development of the foetus; eleventh day: A, 
amniotic cavity; B, cavity of the yolk sac; C, allantois. 

of other mammals, and rarely does one find villi upon 
the chorion in the case of the horse, except in a very 
small portion at one pole. As they are sometimes 
found at both poles, the illustrations were made to 
show them thus. In no mammal is there such a var- 
iance in respect of this as in the horse, for in some in- 
stances I have found no villi at the twenty-first day. 
In about seventy-five per cent of cases there will be 
no villi except at one pole. In the attachment or con- 



44 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

nectioii of the foetal and maternal membranes, they oc- 
cupy a smaller space, relatively, than of any other 
mammal. It is because of this, that there is never 
but a loose attachment, as compared with the mem- 
branes of other mammals. 

In figure 19, is shown a foetus at the seventeenth 
day. It will be seen that the cavity of the allantois has 
diminished, and the yolk-sac has become the vitillene 




Figure 19. Development of the foetus; seventeenth day: 
A, amnion completed; B, amniotic cavity; C, allantois. 



duct. At this stage the allantois becomes attached to 
the chorion, or rather suspended between the amnion 
and chorion. From this on no material changes take 
place, the principle change being one of growth. 

In figure 20, one sees a foetus Slightly older than 
the one in the preceding figure. The most noticeable 
change is in the beginning of an attachment to the 
membranes of the mare. In this and the succeeding 



THE FOETUS AND FOETAL MEMBRANES OF THE HORSE 



45 



figure the foetus is shown attached to the fundus, or 
body of the uterus. This rarely occurs in the case 
of the horse and is only shown thus to show a change 
in development. 




Figure 20. Development of the foetus; twenty-first day, 
stiowing position in the uterus: A, fundus of the uterus; B, 
horns of the uterus; C, cervix; D, amnion; E, first appearance 
of completed chorion; F, umbilicus (allantois) ; H, heart. 



In figure 21, can be seen a foetus at the thirty-third 
day. Excepting size, and a few minor changes which 
will be mentioned later, one sees a foetus with all the 
outward appearances of a mature foetus. The sex can 
be determined and the outward form is practically 



46 



STUDIES IN IIORSK ISRKEIJING 



that of a mature foetus. The extremities are relatively 
a little shorter, as well as the head, hut for all this the 
foetus could be recognized by any one as that of a 
horse. 

In the growth of the hair, the first to be seen is that 




Figure 21. Development of the foetus; thirty-third day: 
A, attachment of foetal and maternal membranes. It will be 
noticed that as pregnancy advances, the uterus becomes rela- 
tively wider, the horns shorter and narrower, and the cervix 
shorter and firmer in structure. At this stage of development 
the umbilicus has become permanently attached to the mem- 
brane of the uterus. 



of the future mane, which makes its appearance at 
about the sixth month. The covering of the body be- 
gins at the shoulders and neck, extending backward 
and downward, and from the feet upward, completing 
its covering around the navel. There is a difference 



THE FOETUS AND FOETAL MEMBRANES OF THE HORSE 47 

in mares of about a month as to the covering of the 
foetus with hair, but this will occur from the eighth 
to the ninth month. 

As to the place of actual attachment, the horse fur- 
nishes an interesting study. In figure 22, can be seen 
a foetus attached to the membrane of a fallopian tube. 
This was found thirty days after semen had been in- 




Figure 22. A foetus developing in the fallopian tube. 

troduced into the uterus of the mare, and it is doubt- 
ful if it would ever have changed its position except as 
its own growth would have forced it backward into the 
horn of the uterus. I have several times found younger 
embryos in the same location. 

In figure 23, can be seen a foetus in the extreme 
end of the horn of the uterus. This is the place where 



48 



STUDIES IN HORSK BREKDIN( 



most of them l)ecome attached, when attachment takes 
place. This will also account for nearly all mares 
carrying their foetuses upon one side, more than upon 
the other. Occasionally the ovum drops to the bottom 
of the uterus and well back toward the mouth, be- 
coming attached in such a manner as to entirely close 
the uterus. In such cases the uterus cannot be dilated 
at the time of parturition, and the mare will need as- 




Figure 23. A shows foetus attached to membrane in the 
horn of the uterus. More foetuses are attached at this place 
than any other. 



sistance in delivery. It sometimes requires much ef- 
fort to open or dilate the uterus in such attachments, 
and there is some danger of flooding, -following such de- 
liveries. 

The amnion at first lies close on the surface of the 
embryo, but later becomes extended by the accumula- 



TIIIC FOIOTT'S AXD FOETAL MR JI RRA?« ES OF THE HOUSE 



i'^ 



tion of tiuid, the liciuor aiiinii. This Huid at first con- 
tains abont seven-tenths of one per cent of salt, to- 
si'ether Avith allnimen and other substances. It con- 
tinnonsly increases in its salt solution, nntil at the end 
of gestation it sometimes contains as much as three 
per cent. In most mammals, and especially in man, 
the volume of amnion fluid is greatest at about two- 




cell. 



Figure 24. An ovary of the mare showing tube to the germ 



thirds of the period of gestation, when it decreases un- 
til the time of birth. In the horse it continuously in- 
creases up to the time of parturition. 

Only one more matt(U" is worthy of mention in this 
chapter, that of the full developnu^nt of sex. Both the 
ovaries and testicles begin their development at a very 



50 STUDIES IN HOKSE BREEDING 

early period in the horse, probably earlier than in any 
other mammal. The testicles of the male begin to 
descend at about the ninth month, reaching the scro- 
tum from a few days, to three weeks before birth. The 
difference in time in this matter is more the result of 
inheritance, than any other cause. The get of some 
stallions are always born with the testicles in the scro- 
tum, while the get of other stallions are born with the 
testicles above the inguinal ring. 

Tubes or openings into the ova of several forms of 
life have been observed by a few embryolo gists, and it 
was always in genera whose ova were covered with a 
thick membrane (zona pellacida). The ovum of the 
mare is thus covered, and we find it has a tube through* 
which the spermatozoon enters, as shown in figure 24. 
I made this discovery while experimenting in arti- 
ficial conceptions, when I observed that all sperma- 
tozoa would collect at one point on the ovum. A 
microscope of high power, explained why they did this. 
Figure 12 shows spermatozoa thus collected. 



CHAPTER HI. 



THE SELECTION OF A STALLION. 

Masculinity. It is impossible to produce the highest 
class of horses in any breed without the aid of high 
class mares. Yet the average quality of the horses in 
the country can only be advanced by use of quality 
stallions. What a stallion will do for the community 
in which he is owned, will depend more upon his head 
and temperament than all else. No horse has ever 
proved himself a great sire, if not a stallion of most 
pronounced masculinity. This will be determined by 
the crest, the massive jaw, the voice, the hard and fixed 
expression of the eye, the muscular development of the 
jaw, neck and shoulder, and by his action and every 
movement. Life must be begun in power. To be com- 
plete, it must be begotten with that immense energy, 
sufficient to impart the greatest possible momentum 
to all its functions. To achieve all this, requires po- 
tential virility. The stallion must start off. all the bodily 
organs and functions of the future foal. This potential 
force must be powerful in the stallion, that the organ- 
ism may be vigorous in his foals. A stallion with small 
or weakly masculinity will sire many foals of low 
vitality, even though mated with strong vigorous mares. 
The mares may supply plenty of organic material for 



52 STUDIES IX IIOKSE UREEUING 

the nourishment of the foetus, but it may have too little 
life force to appropriate it. An enfeebled mare may 
produce a strong vigorous foal, if sired by a stallion 
of strong masculinity. In this case, the mare will still 
further enfeeble herself to nourish the foetus. The 
more a stallion is such mentally, the more he will be 
one physically and sexually. The male body is created 
b}' the male mentality. When speaking of the mind or 
n)entality of the horse, I wish to be understood as in- 
cluding the entire nervous organization of the horse. 
Nature's Laws of Sex Attraction. Nature does noth- 
ing without a well defined purpose. The stallion's 
peculiar voice is given him, that it might attract 
mares to him. Any mare will readily recognize the 
voice of a stallion from that of any other horse, as far 
as she can hear it. The same is true of the odor pe- 
culiar to the sexes. The massive jaw and extra muscles 
of neck and shoulder are given the stallion as weapons 
of both offense and defense to aid him in fighting- 
battles necessary for the defense of his herd. The hard 
and fixed expression of the eye is but the outward ex- 
pression of being so full of masculine power that it must 
find expression in every look, in every action, in his 
entire being. He is the most perfect stallion, who is 
the best equipped, best adapted to fulfill the office for 
which he was created. All masculine endowments must 
be stamped upon the offspring at the time of concep- 
tion ; while female influences are continued through a 
period of eleven months. Therefore, for the time being, 
the powers of the stallion should be far the greatest, 
since each endows about equally. 



THE SELECTION OF A STALLION 53 

Masculinity a Breed Characteristic. Masculinity is 
much more pronounced in some breeds than in others. 
Among the draft breeds, the Belgian stallion is most 
masculine of them all. The Shire stallion is usually 
found possessing masculinity in a low degree. His 
small jaw and feminine neck give him the outward ap- 
pearance of a -gelding. Many stallions of this breed 
are wanting in masculinity to a marked degree. It is 
a well-known fact among intelligent breeders that the 
Shire stallion is a source of more trouble as a breeder 
than the stallions of any other breed. Some individ- 
uals of this great breed are as virile as any I have 
ever known, yet the fact remains that many among 
them are inclined to be "shy." I have been keeping 
records and compiling statistics obtained from others, 
for many years, and state with much confidence that 
one can detect the "shy" breeders from any herd of 
stallions. 

Stallions That Are Unprofitable. For the purpose of 
this chapter, I shall assume the reader does not own a 
stallion at this time, but has decided to purchase one. 
I^et me inform you before you make your purchase that 
of all the stallions sold in this country, not more than 
one of every ten, has ever paid as a commercial propo- 
sition. After the expense of his keep and handling 
has been paid, I doubt very much if one of every ten 
has earned enough in collections to pay for his first 
cost. There are two primary causes for this being true. 
First, the stallion was sold for more than he was worth. 
Few stallions have ever been sold in this country at 
their true value. Any other than a high class, well 



54 STUDIES IN HOESE BREEDING 

bred and strictly sound stallion has no value what- 
ever. The number of scrubs, undersized and unsound 
pure bred stallions that have been peddled and sold 
in this country is appalling. There is no one to blame 
for this condition of affairs, but the buyer himself. 
Just so long as such hot air advertising as "Ten acre 
barns, full to the roof of all ton horses," is more at- 
tractive to the buyer than the plain honest statement of 
a reputable breeder or dealer, just so long will the 
buyer be complaining of buying a gold brick. Just so 
long as the buyer goes out to buy something cheap, 
just so long will he pay something for nothing. 

Secondly, another reason why so few stallions pay 
is because of poor handling. Scarcely one man in twen- 
ty now handling stallions is capable of doing so intel- 
ligently. It is really surprising how many unintelli- 
gent, superstitious, double-cover, look-over-the-left- 
shoulder, dark-of-the-moon, first-heat-filly-foal men 
there are in the country handling stallions. I have 
known men who have handled stallions for more than 
twenty years, to state that it required all the semen of 
one discharge to impregnate a mare. I believe there are 
more misfits in the stallion and jack business, than any 
other business in the world. 

The Purchase of a Stallion. If you are ready to pur- 
chase a stallion, no place you can go is likely to prove 
so profitable to you, as to some reputable breeder, 
where not only the sire, but dam, and frequently the 
second and third dams can be seen. If the stallion is a 
good one and of a desirable type, and you find his sire 
and dam of a type equally good, you know to a rea- 



THE SELECTION OF A STAIXION 55 

sonable certainty what his offspring will be. If it be 
impossible to buy of a breeder, then buy of a reputable 
dealer. Be fully decided as to what you want before 
you leave your home, and do not buy until you have 
found such a horse. You will find it well to do the 
buying yourself, rather than let the seller do it for 
you. If the horse shown you is of the breed and type 
you desire, look him over carefully as to his sound- 
ness. First see if his age, color and marks correspond 
with his certificate. If they do not, pay no attention to 
excuses or explanations, but leave him alone. Be 
mighty careful about his eyes. Defective vision is 
transmitted with great certainty. Be sure there is no 
blueness about them. A good, clear, prominent and 
expressive eye is essential to a good breeder. A hazel 
eye is always a good one. If he is three years or more 
of age, note whether or not he has that hard or fixed 
expression already mentioned under masculinity. He 
should also have a well developed or masculine jaw, the 
same wide apart underneath, with a clean, neat throat. 
Full meaty throats are likely to become thick in the 
wind. His ears should be carried erect. His crest 
should be well developed with neck of fairly good 
length. Few draft horses have ever had too long a 
neck. His neck should be well set upon nicely sloping 
shoulders. You are supposed to be buying a sire, for 
producing high-priced commercial horses. High-priced 
geldings are never seen with short necks nor straight 
shoulders. Viewed from in front, he should be wide, 
carrying his width all the way back, and well muscled 
upon shoulder, arm and forearm. His legs sJiould be 
set well under him, and only medium in length. If his 



56 STUDIKS IX nOKSK nUKEDIAG 

legs are set too wide apart, he ir; sure to roll when in 
motion, caiising more resistance, thereby resulting in 
added friction to all his movements. The knee should 
be wide, carrying its width well down below. Such 
knees are rarely seen with splints below them. If you 
are after a true drafter, he should measure not less than 
ten inches below the knee, nor less than twelve below 
the hock. If he measures twelve inches below the knee 
and fourteen inches below the hock, so much the bet- 
ter. VieAved from the side, all legs should stand per- 
pendicular to the body. The pastern should stand at 
an angle of -15 degrees. The utility of the pastern 
is to dissipate concussion. A straight pastern and a 
straight shoulder are generally found together. Such 
a conformation is the cause of most sidebones, ring- 
bones, navicular troubles and shoulder lameness. Too 
much importance can not be attached to a correct pas- 
tern. If too straight in a young horse, it will only 
become more so with age, resulting in knuckling. 
Good feet are a valuable asset to any horse. This is 
more especially true of the forefeet, as about sixty per 
cent of the weight of a horse is borne upon his fore- 
feet. A wide hoofhead is very important, together Avith 
wide heels. "Wide heels are usually associated with 
large, elastic frogs, to act as a cushion in dissipating 
concussion, which the pastern continues. 

Going back to the body, the length of back from 
shoulder blade (s:capula) to point of hip, should never 
exceed in length, the length of that part of the quarter 
measured from the point of hip to point of buttock. 
If depth of shoulder and length of quarter each exceed 
the length of back, we have a near approach to the 



THE SELECTION OF A STALLIOX 57 

principle of the arch, the strongest self supporting fig- 
ure known to the science of mechanics. A long back 
is quite a common defect in many draft horses. The 
body should be round, with ribs well sprung and ex- 
tending well downward. This will give you a horse of 
good lung capacity as well as a good feeder and doer. 
The horse cut up in the flank is a poor feeder, always, 
recovering slowly from extra exertion in the way of 
hard work or long shipping. The loin should be wide 
and well muscled. The croup should be long, straight 
and well muscled. There is a wide difference in the 
draft breeds as regards the croup. Some of the breeds 
as a whole are very straight in the croup, while others 
appear very steep in the hind cpiarter. A long straight 
croup adds much to the appearance of the horse. So 
far as strength is concerned, it matters not so much 
about the angle, as does the extent to which the croup 
is covered with muscle. The thigh and quarter should 
be heavy, this region of the horse being composed prin- 
cipally of muscles. A draft horse should be heavily 
muscled throughout the hind quarters, for it is the hind 
quarters that furnish most of the power in drawing 
heavy loads. The hocks should be given more atten- 
tion than any other part of the horse. More draft 
horses go wrong because of defective hocks than all 
other defects combined. No hock can be too good or 
too strong. Viewed from both in front and at the side, 
the hock should appear broad, yet clean cut and free 
from fullness. In front of the hock and slightly to 
the inside, look closely for a spavin. Never buy a 
stallion with a spavin, even though a small sum will 
Iniy him, unless you wish to start a breed of spavined 



58 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

horses. I know of one stallion in South Dakota having 
a spavin upon his right hock, and seventeen of his 
foals, the get of a single year, developed spavins upon 
the same leg before they reached their first year. The 
hock should be kept sharp in all its features and angles, 
as such a hock shows more quality, both in bone and 
the tendons attached to it. 

Quality. The hair upon the legs should always be 
fine, and as short as the breed character will permit. 
Nothing indicates quality in a horse so much as the 
fineness of the hair. Fine, soft hair is associated with 
fine, soft skin, and all such animals will be found pos- 
sessing bone and tendons of a high quality. In addi- 
tion to this, a horse possessing quality in a high degree 
will not only have more strength, but much greater 
endurance as well. 

The Generative Organs. Examine the generative 
organs of the stallion you are about to purchase. The 
testicles should be well developed, and even in size. 
Stallions with one small testicle, sire many ridgling 
foals. The smaller, or rather shorter, the penis, the 
surer he will prove as a foal getter. This is because of 
his being able to make more complete services, by de- 
positing the semen in the uterus. If you notice bunches 
of tallow deposited about the sheath, let the other 
fellow have him. Even with the tallow bunched upon 
and around the generative organs, he may still be able 
to prodtice foals all right, but as a producer of high- 
class foals, his vitality has been impaired forever. 
Tallow deposited in any part of the animal, necessarily 
impairs the vitality of all nerves and glands in that 
locality. It will take two years of careful and intelli- 



THE SELECTION OF A STALLION 59 

gent handling to put such a stallion in good breeding 
condition. Can you afford to do this? 

The Action of the Stallion. Now have the stallion 
put to the walk. This is the only gait of the draft 
horse. Give the strictest attention to his every move- 
ment, viewed from in front, behind and at the side. In 
approaching yon, the feet should be lifted clear of the 
ground, then placed down evenly and in line. From 
behind, the legs should be kept well under him, the 
flexion of the hock even and in line, the bottom of 
the feet showing at every step. From the side, the 
stride should appear balanced, quick and elastic. In 
addition to all this, in the well-sexed stallion, there 
should be an indescribable something to his motion and 
action, as though every nerve and muscle, and tendon 
were made of the highest and best tempered steel, 
ready to spring at the slightest volition. If he moves 
about as though partially unconscious of his surround- 
ings and mission in life, I would not care to own him. 
The tendency of all stallion salesmen is to show their 
horse at the trot, rarely at the walk. The trot is of 
little value to the draft horse, other than to show 
soreness or lameness. If he walks right, his trot will 
be all right. 

Good Wind Very Important. Not less important 
than any of the points mentioned, is to know the stal- 
lion you are buying has good wind. Test him thor- 
oughly in this respect, for without good lungs, and 
good wind, a stallion has no value. Few stallions in 
the past have ever been tested by the buyer for defec- 
tive wind, resulting in many a disappointment because 
of this negligence. I know of a stallion in South Da- 



60 , STtlDIES IX IIORSK liKKKDIXO 

kota, sold by an Eastern firm on the company plan, 
for $4,500. This horse if gelded at that time, would 
have sold for $100 and no more. Unfortunately for 
that community, he proved a sure foal getter, and has 
filled that country full of horses with defective wind. 
The damage to the farmers of that county can not be 
measured in dollars, for it will take fifty years of judi- 
cious breeding, to correct the injury done them, besides 
the first commercial loss of thousands of dollars. No 
defect, no disease of the horse is more likely to be trans- 
mitted than laryngeal hemiplegia. Beware of the wind- 
broken stallion. Put him to a severe test, and if the 
slightest roaring or whistling can be detected, pass 
him up. 

Testing the Stallion's Virility. If the stallion has 
proved all right thus far, and you have been made a 
price which you believe to be reasonable, buy him, with 
the understanding that he is yet to be submitted to one 
more test; that of a breeder. Have this question set- 
tled before you pay a dollar upon him. There is but 
one wa}^ to settle this point, let the microscope do the 
work. Have him mated with a mare, and test the 
semen yourself. A microscope with a magnification 
of 400 or 500 diameters can be had for $30 and it will 
be worth several times that amount every year, if you 
continue in the business. No man can intelligently 
handle a stallion or jack without one in these modern 
times. We are now living in the twentieth century, a 
time famous for its high intelligence, its many inven- 
tions, and its many master minds in every field of 
human endeavor. Competition in every line of com- 
mercial activity is mighty keen. If you do not intend 



THE SELECTION OE A S TAIJ^lOX 61 

to handle your stallion in the most intelligent man- 
ner known to this age, you will do well not to buy 
one, for your competitor will most likely, handle his 
horse in a business like way. 

Guarantee. No guarantee of breeding is worth the 
price of the paper upon which it is written. There 
are plenty of breeders and dealers who are honest, and 
who will make good, but when you have handled and 
cared for a stallion one or two years, with no returns, 
who is going to pay you for your actual loss, in expense 
money and time? Even though you do get another 
stallion in exchange for the one already shown to 
possess no breeding value, your loss is too great to take 
any chances on. Besides this second horse may prove 
no better than the first if taken without being tested. 
There is but one business way to avoid this loss and 
annoyance ; test the horse before you buy him. 
Twenty years from now, no stallion will be sold in 
this country in any other manner. If the stallion is 
a breeder, the semen will disclose the fact, in the 
number and vitality of the spermatozoa, as shown in 
figure 2. If the spermatozoa appear few in number, or 
if they show but little mobility, let the horse alone. 
This test can be made in the coldest weather, by the 
use of water at a temperature of 101 degrees, and 
doing the work in a warm office or other Avarm room. 

Size and Weight. If you are breeding draft horses, 
no stallion you can buy will ever prove too large, pro- 
vided he possesses quality with scale. I have many 
times mated small Indian pony mares, weighing from 
550 to 800 pounds to ton stallions with uniformly good 
results, while if your stallion is coarse and unbalanced. 



62 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

his foals will be the same, even though mated with 
large mares. Taken as a whole, our draft breeds are 
all too small. The demand for heavy geldings of 
quality, such as sell for $300 to $500 each, is many 
times greater than the supply, and always will be. The 
amount of small blood, even in our largest stallions 
and mares, the law of reversion working with this 
fact will always give us a preponderance of undersized 
horses, even when we use the largest sires obtainable. 
In speaking of draft horses, there is a wide difference 
between size and weight. The two terms have a dis- 
tinctly different meaning. It is no easy matter to tell 
a new beginner, how to distinguish between them, 
for added fat, also increases most measurements of 
the body. As already noted, it is a safe rule to refuse 
to buy any stallion carrying fat to the extent of show- 
ing it in bunches. Most shrewd dealers have carried 
the feeding end of their business to a dangerous ex- 
treme. It is surprising to one who does not know, to 
learn the amount of weight that can be added to a 
draft stallion in ten or twelve months of good feeding. 
Fat covers a multitude of defects. Many a man has 
bought a ton horse, only to find when he has been 
put in good breeding condition, that his weight does 
not exceed 1,600 or 1,700 pounds. I know of one man 
buying a four year old stallion at a weight of 2,020 
pounds, which has never passed 1,600 pounds since he 
was six years of age. This horse today is without any 
patronage because of his smallness. He was sold by 
a dealer who advertises a barn full of all ton horses. In 
determining the actual size of a stallion, I have already 
called attention to the measurement of the leg. The 



THE SELECTION OF A STALLION 63 

fore leg should measure never less than ten inches 
around the cannon in the smallest part, and never less 
than twelve inches behind. In body measurement, his 
height should be from I6I/2 to 17 hands, to give best 
results. In girth measurement, one must take into 
consideration the amount of flesh he carries. Every 
hundred pounds of flesh added to a stallion weighing 
1,800 pounds will increase his heart girth more than 
an inch. In this measurement he should never be less 
than 88 inches in good breeding condition, and 90 
inches or more in flank girth. No stallion intended 
for the siring of high-class geldings can be too long 
in the body, so long as he has a short back. The short 
back in long bodied horses is made possible by the slop- 
ing shoulder and long quarters. This conformation 
gives us the horse with the long, easy stride. Such a 
stallion as described in good breeding condition as to 
flesh will give us a weight of better than n ton. This 
makes a good drafter. So good in fact, that it takes 
much time to find one, and such a one, if right in all 
ways, is worth all he will ever cost you. Such a stal- 
lion, if a producer, will make his owner money in any 
part of the grain belt of this great country of ours. 
Such a horse, if a breeder, has never failed to make 
good. Competition from the viewpoint of today, is 
unknown to him. A good type of draft stallion is 
shown in figure 25. 

Disposition. One should avoid bad dispositions in 
buying a stallion. Should one become dangerous or 
even difficult to handle, be sure and take no chances. 
No stallion ever lived that cannot be handled safely. 
It will not do to show fear, yet one can so handle a 



C'l 



STrniKS IX ii()i!8io i:i;KKi)r.\(i 




p 


rH 


■••"^ 


rj 


--■ 


J> -rH 




OJO 


0) 


S 


O 


> 
xi 


0) TJ 
t-, o 


01 



THE SELECTION OF A STALLIOX 65 

horse, that no injury can be done, either to groom or 
stallion. Nothing is better for reducing the temper of 
a vicious stallion than hard physical labor in large 
doses. Many fairly intelligent and naturally good 
dispositioned stallions are made bad, because of their 
excessive masculinity, coupled with bad handling. The 
foals of such will have good tempers, while inherited 
viciousness will again be transmitted. For controlling 
a bad tempered stallion, when being used with a bridle 
only, use a rod eight inches long, with a small ring 
in one end, and a link in the other. Weld the link 
in the right bridle ring, pass the other end under the 
jaw and through the left bridle ring. By buckling 
the lead strap into the end ring of the rod, one can 
easily break a stallion's jaw. Such a rig is only severe, 
as the stallion makes it so. It is well to have but one 
groom handle a bad tempered stallion. Many a fairly 
good temper has been made to go wrong by too many 
men handling the stallion. 

Summary. To put this entire chapter in one para- 
graph, a stallion should be endowed with great mascu- 
line power, as expressed in the voice, the expression of 
the eye, the erect and alert carriage of the ear, the 
well defined crest, the massive jaw, the great muscu- 
lar development about the neck and shoulder and his 
action, which should be as if he was overflowiiig with 
sexual power and vigor. The body should be long, 
but short on the back with sloping shoulder and long, 
fairly straight croup and quarters. The underline 
should be long and well let down at the flank. Loin 
wide and well muscled. Ribs well sprung with great 
depth of body. Legs well set under him, with an 



86 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

elastic, sloping pastern. Hock wide, especially just 
below and at the joint, clean and well defined in all 
its points and angles. His feet should be good, with 
wide hoof-heads, wide and high at the heel with wide 
thick frog. His walk should be free, easy, in line, elas- 
tic, in short the equal of a perfect machine, made for 
that express purpose. This coupled with soundness in 
every part, with the lungs and wind of a locomotive, 
temperament and intelligence of the best, will give 
5^ou a stallion you do not need to lead down the back 
alleys, when you take him to your home town. 

Grades and Unsound Stallions. One more thought 
and this chapter will be ended. You may now own a 
grade stallion, or you may own one with a pedigree 
extending back into the very remote past, but for all 
that one that is unsound, and of inferior quality. If 
you do, use him to the best of your abilit5^ This is 
a privilege not yet denied you in many of our states. 
Get your money out of him as soon as you can, for 
in a very few years, no stallions will be permitted to 
stand for service anj^where in this country, unless he 
be a pure bred, and free from all hereditary defects. 
Because of this, be careful as to the quality of the next 
stallion you buy. Go where we may, the same echo is 
heard rolling across the country : only sound and pure 
bred stallions shall be used. It is in the very air we 
breathe, it is heard upon nearly every farm, and be- 
cause of so many inferior and unsound horses reaching 
the markets, we now hear it in the auction ring. The 
American farmers can always be depended upon to 
come out right upon any question of vital importance 



THE SELECTION OF A STALLION 67 

to their own interests and their country's welfare. 
They are now practically a unit in aemanding such 
stallions. 



CHAPTER IV. 



HANDLING THE STALLION. 

Care of the Stallion. The stallion is, generally speak- 
ing, the most abused of all our domestic animals. This 
abuse is not always intentional, sometimes being the 
result of intended kindness. It is none the less an 
abuse, however, when we shut a stallion up in close 
quarters for the greater part of the year. Another abuse 
which is intended as a kindness, is overfeeding, especially 
when such feed as corn is used in large quantities. Many 
stallions have been made more or less sterile because of 
such feeding. The following table is the result of the 
feeding systems of draft stallions owned in five states : 



1. of stallions 


Kind of Grain 


102 


Corn 


194 


Corn and oats 


149 


Oats 


71 


Oats and bran 



No. of 
Mares Bred 

23173 


No. of 
Foals 

9073 


Per cent 
of Foals 

39 


29207 


134.35 


46 


24781 


14381 


54 


9319 


5777 


62 



31 Grass and alfalfa 4658 3773 81 

Some of the above stallions had stood several years in 
the same place, and the mares listed includes mares for 
all those years. By this table, we learn that oats and 
bran produced 62 per cent of foals, while corn produced 
only 39 per cent, but little more than half. Even corn 
and oats produced seven per cent more foals than corn 



HANDLING THK. STALLION 69 

alone. In the case of grass and alf.,lf:;,, with no grain 
at any season of the year, we get 81 per cent of foals. 
These stallions ran in pastures for about four months 
each year, when they would be taken up and fed alfalfa 
for the balance of the year. It can not be said that these 
stallions were mated with better mares than the other 
stallions, as all except a few young fillies which remained 
in the pastures were mares that worked every day. The 
mares brought in for service were taken to a corral in 
the pasture to be bred, so that all mares were served 
in the pasture. Every stallion in this table was regis- 
tered, 309 of the 547 were imported. Of the thirty-one 
fed grass and alfalfa, only twenty-three were imported. 
If one wants other evidence that our system of feeding 
is wrong, if it is foals we are after, we only have to 
compare the foal crop of the several states to again learn 
something as to feeds. This table is not intended to 
show the. kind of grain fed to the stallions, but it does 
show the per cent of foals in states where corn is the 
principal grain, as compared with those where corn is 
not fed. These statistics were gathered by sending blank 
forms to be filled and returned by stallion owners. It 
is not claimed that they are in all cases reliable, but 
without doubt, they are as reliable as the average of 
any statistics. It took twelve years to collect them. The 
following is the result : 

State No. of Mares Bred T% *^*^"^ 

ot Poals 

Colorado 6359 67 

Idaho 6417 73 

Illinois 11983 46 

Indiana 1734 47 

Iowa 14891 47 



70 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

State No. of Mares Bred Per cent 

ot l<oals 

Kansas 6039 44 

Michigan 1468 58 

Minnesota 7457 61 

Missouri 6796 41 

Montana 8138 72 

Nebraska 23823 49 

North Dakota 3162 56 

Oregon 4971 71 

South Dakota 10382 52 

Washington 4613 71 

Wyoming 3667 72 

Wisconsin 3598 60 

Ontario, Canada 13294 71 

In this table, we learn that in the six corn states: 
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, 
no state can show fifty per cent of foals. Of these 
states, Nebraska is the highest with forty-nine per cent, 
while Missouri is the lowest with only forty-one per cent. 
South Dakota has seven counties classed as corn counties, 
the balance of the state growing more of the small 
grains, and we have fifty-two per cent of foals for the 
entire state. Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wis- 
consin and Ontario can be regarded as oat states, oats 
being the principal grain feed in all these states. In 
this group, we have from fifty-six per cent in North 
Dakota to seventy-one per cent in Ontario. This gain 
of the oat states over the corn states is much more than 
at first appears, when studied in the light of profit or loss 
to the stallioner. Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, 
Washington and Wyoming can be classed as grazing 
states, and we have here in this group from sixty-seven 
per cent for Colorado to seventy-three per cent in Ida- 
ho, another very profitable gain. 



HANDLING THE STALLION 71 

In the light of these statistics, the nearer we get to a 
corn ration, the lighter the foal crop ; while the nearer 
we can get to a grass ration, the larger the foal crop. I 
made an effort to obtain statistics upon this matter from 
other states, but not enough replies were made to justify 
their publication. 

Our system of feeding draft stallions, owned and kept 
for breeding purposes, is bad. We feed too much, rather 
than too little, and not very often a balanced ration. For 
best results in breeding, it is better to have too much 
rather than too little protein, but we must not feed too 
much. If our draft stallions were required to work every 
day in the year, it would be quite different, but very 
few perform any physical labor of any kind. This is 
not only bad from the breeding point of view, but it is 
the source of so much trouble in the way of sore legs 
in its many forms. 

The feed for a stallion should be of the best quality. 
Badly cured or musty hay should always be avoided. 
Clover and alfalfa if properly cured have no equal, but 
never in larger amounts than one nound for each one 
hundred pounds of horse per day. Clover and timothy 
mixed is the next best hay. There is no hay so difficult 
of digestion for the horse as timothy. This is even more 
so when cut too ripe. It is also low in nutritive value, 
no better than good wild hay. Good hay is everything in 
feeding a stallion. I kept an imported stallion upon an 
exclusive diet of alfalfa hay for six years. During the 
season and summer following, he worked in the fields 
five hours every day. In the winter he was used to assist 
in feeding the stock, which required him to be in the 
harness every day. During the six years he served 512 



72 STUDIES IN HORSE UREEDING 

mares, 414 live foals resulting. The foals all showed 
remarkable vitality, and the stallion kept in the best of 
breeding condition. This was done for the sake of the 
experiment. Other stallions kept at the same time, and 
under the same conditions, except grain being fed them, 
did not do as well nor leave so many foals. 

No one grain, fed alone, will give as good results as 
oats. The next best grain I have ever tried is barley, but 
it must be crushed. Unless alfalfa or clover is fed for 
hay, a little bran will improve either grain. I would 
make corn no part of any stallion's ration. This is not 
because of what is disclosed by an analysis of corn, but 
because it is absolutely indigestible for any horse. The 
excrement of all horses fed corn are too acid, that is sour. 
There is always too much fermentation going on where 
corn is fed a horse. When swine are unable to either 
digest or assimilate corn, how can we expect the horse 
with his delicate digestive organs to do so? If we take 
two pens of swine of equal numbers, and feed pen num- 
ber one all the corn they will consume, and feed pen 
number two only the excrement from pen number one, 
the swine in pen number two will make the greater gain. 
This does not make a very good showing for corn as a 
grain ration for a horse. When either oats or barley have 
been used, I never feed a stallion during the breeding 
season more than three-fourths of a pound to the one 
hundred pounds of weight per day. Salt should be 
accessible to the stallion at all times. Both feed and 
water should be given at regular hours, but never feed a 
stallion grain nor give him water within three hours of 
the time he will be required to make a service. 



HANBLING THE STALUOX 73 

Standing for Service. No part of the stallion busi- 
ness shows such a want of business methods and ethics, 
as that of standing him for service. This is in part due 
to the owner of the stallion having no business system, 
and occasionally no business principle. The man who 
makes two prices for the same commodity is a dishonest 
man. Many men have failed in business because of this 
weakness. No man will ever succeed in the business who 
has two prices. It is with no feeling of egotism that I 
make mention of it, but I believe no man living has ever 
bred more mares with stallions owned and controlled 
by himself than I have, and if I was asked what had 
contributed most toward my success, I would say it 
was because I have never made two jknces for the same 
horse ; that I always tried to own horses just a little 
better than the other fellow, and lastly, I have left 
nothing undone to make my patrons money. If you cut 
your fee for one man, even he will always believe you 
are doing it for others, besides being suspicious that 
you made a lower fee to the other fellow than you did 
to him. Have one price and try and make all pay it. 

Much has been said and written against the "live, 
foal" and "stand and suck" contracts. I have been 
making a study of the farmer and breeder during the 
past thirty years, as well as the horse. I can show that 
either my system of bookkeeping is wrong or that such a 
contract is profitable. In giving patrons a choice of two 
contracts, $15.00 to insure a mare in foal, payable De- 
cember 1st, or .$20.00 for a live foal, only about one in 
every 100 men have taken the "to insure" contract. 
Now $20.00 is 33 1-3 per cent more than $15.00, and for 
thirty years I have lost only six per cent of mares known 



74 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

to be in foal. To insure a live foal may not be as profit- 
able as some other forms of insurance, but it is profitable. 
Few stallion owners keep their books in either a business 
or statistical form. All books in this business should 
be kept in statistical form to the end that one may know 
all about his business, and especially the kind of mares 
that are both making and losing him money. 

The Best Service Contract. No service contract 
known is so good for all parties concerned, as the "cash 
in advance" contract, with privilege of return for the 
balance of the season. This is best for two reasons. 
First, it gives the stallion owner a better chance with his 
horse, because of practically barring all mares known by 
their owners to be shy breeders, besides giving the stal- 
lioner the use of his money at the time he should have it. 
He can afford to make a very low fee with such a eon- 
tract. If he knows how many mares he can command, he 
can know to a certainty what his income will be. Sec- 
ondly, nothing causes the average mare owner to take 
a greater interest in the business or to give his mares so ' 
good care as to have his foal paid for. Wherever it has 
been tried in the northern states, it has proved both 
popular and successful. 

Conditioning the Stallion. One has no right to ask 
patronage of the public, unless he is in a position to 
give good value for the money received. To give good 
value for service money received, not only requires a 
good stallion, but that stallion must be in good condi- 
tion. To start off the embryo life and future foal with 
the life force and vitality, which it will need to carry 
it through to a vigorous old age, makes it of vital 
importance that the stallion be in the best possible 



HANDLING THE STALLION 



75 



physical and sexual condition. The stallion that has 
been confined in a small stall or yard for eight or nine 
months will be in mighty poor condition to sire such a 
foal. If the conditions are such that work is impossi- 
ble, one should begin fitting his stallion as early in 
the spring as he can for the great work confronting 
the stallion. At least a month before the breeding 
season is expected to begin, the stallion should be 
given regular daily exercise. If he has done nothing 
but stand around all winter, he should be given but 
little exercise at first, but increasing the amount every 
day until the maximum is reached. He should be given 
service, even if it has to be given free to some one, at 
first one service per week, then increase the number 
of services by one mare each week until one service per 
day is reached. The complaint is general all over the 
country that mares do not settle well early in the sea- 
son. It is not the mares, but the stallion usually at 
fault. In tests made of many stallions with the micro- 
scope, only a small per cent are found in good breed- 
ing condition in the early spring. Even one month 
would work great changes in a stallion, if the month 
was spent in exercise with an occasional service. 

One Service a Day. In the handling of stallions for 
service, no one thing has been the cause of more fail- 
ures or more instrumental in causing a low per cent 
of foals, than the practice of making two or three 
services per day. Very careful and extended experi- 
ments with draft stallions, by the use of the micro'- 
seope at every service have demonstrated the fact that 
from 10 to 13 hours are required for a stallion to se- 
crete semen containing spermatozoa, providing the stal- 



76 STUDIK.S IX IIORSK IIRKKniXO 

lion is given regular daily service. Less time is re- 
quired by warm bred, than by draft stallions. 

Many years ago, I was handling an imported Per- 
ch eron stallion. The foals resulting from his first 
year's service were so good, I was forced to make two 
and three services daily during his second season. 
Well along into the season, I observed he would some- 
times enfoal a shy breeder, but fail to settle a regular 
breeder bred the same day. I blamed the horse rather 
than the mare. This led to my microscopial examin- 
ation of the semen at every service. I carried this 
work on for three seasons, using different stallions 
every season. As the results were practically the same 
with all stallions tested, I will give a complete record 
of one during a season of eighty-four daj^s. This 
stallion began the season with one service daily, which 
was continued for twenty-one days, working in double 
harnegs in the field five hours each day throughout the 
entire season. The second twenty-one days, he made 
three services daily, no two occurring nearer than five 
hours apart. From the sixty-three services made dur- 
ing this period of twenty-one days spermatozoa were 
present in only thirty-nine of them. The next twenty- 
one days, he made two services daily, no two occurring 
nearer than eight hours apart. In the forty-two serv- 
ices of this twenty-one day period, spermatozoa were 
present in only thirty-one of them. During the last 
twenty-one day period, he made only one service daily, 
and spermatozoa were present in all of them. Here it 
will be observed that at the end of a strenuous sea- 
son of eighty-four days, with only one service per day, 
every service gave results, while during the first half 



HAXDLIXG THK STALUOX 77 

of the season, with three services per day only a little 
more than half of them gave results. During the 
twenty-one day period when the stallion was making 
three services per day, I was just as likely to find the 
third service a good one as the first or second. I had 
a large number of mares of my own, so that by oc- 
casionally serving the same mare twice, I had no dif- 
ficulty in making all services in the required time. 

The Stallion in a State of Nature. In handling a 
stallion, the best results will be had by following the 
natural instincts of the horse, so far as domestication 
will permit. In the aggregate, I have spent several 
months both day and night, upon the range with a 
stallion and his mares, for the purpose of studying the 
breeding habits of both stallions and mares. ]\Iuch in- 
formation of value to breeding I have gathered in that 
manner. It was thus I learned a mare is never served 
by the stallion until she is well advanced in her heat 
period, not until she is in perfect breeding condition. 
The stallion will make frequent visits to the mare, in 
some cases for three or four days before mating with 
her, and she in readiness for him all the time. In one 
instance, I recorded twenty-six such visits before the 
stallion mated with the mare. Nor does the stallion 
abuse himself, as most men suppose, when running with 
mares upon the range. I have a record of one instance 
where a watch was kept for nine days and nights, 
with mares in readiness at all times, and yet the stal- 
lion made but eight services in the nine days. 

Another fact worth remembering is that 90 per cent 
of all services made under natural conditions are made 
between sunset and dark, usually .just at twilight. 



78 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

My own statistics of farm mares bred, show this to be 
the most favorable time for settling them. This time 
of breeding with reference to farm mares is favorable 
because of giving the mare an opportunity to rest 
after the service. 

When making services too often. with a stallion, he 
is likely to acquire the habit of failing to exhaust, a 
practice which soon gives you a stallion possessing no 
value as a breeder. Even with natural service, a stal- 
lion will leave more and better foals with only one 
service per day, than when making two or more. The 
most accurate statistics we have upon the subject dis- 
close the fact that only forty per cent of all mares 
bred in the United States produce foals, and that it 
requires three and one-half services of a stallion for 
every foal produced. The stallion that can not settle 
more than forty per cent of his mares with only one 
service, provided he has good handling, is not a sure 
breeder. Since we know the majority of stallions are 
sure, there must be some very poor handling. 

The Vices of Stallions. Many stallions acquire vices 
by idleness, others by poor handling. Among these 
vices may be named cribbing, wind sucking, lip lapping 
and masturbating, which are all stable vices, generally 
the result of idleness. For all of them I would pre- 
scribe work, and before they are too well fixed to be 
broken. There are several vices showing themselves 
only at time of service, such as being too impetuous 
with a desire to run at a mare in a manner endangering 
the safety of the mare and all those in her immediate 
vicinity. There is nothing better for this than the rod 
through the bit rings and under the jaw, reference to 



HANDLING THE .STALLION 



79 



which has already been made. Then we have the 
vicious stallion. This is always the result, either of an 
inherited tendency, which can again be transmitted, 
or an excess of masculinity, coupled with poor hand- 
ling. Little is to be gained by handling any stallion 
roughly. Even a vicious stallion can be handled with- 
out danger to any one, by so handling him at all times 
that he has no opportunity to do any harm. Firmness 
with intelligence will do more than beating or club- 
bing a stallion. 

The Use of Young Stallions. To make a good server 
of a stallion, one should begin with his first mare. It 
is easy to make a good server of any stallion if you 
can begin with him when a colt. A stallion should be 
taught early in his career to walk up to the left side 
of the 'mare, place his shoulder against her flank so 
as to avoid kicks, and mount her only when commanded 
to do so. A little patience and intelligence upon the 
part of the groom, will soon result in teaching a colt 
so that he can be used in service without a strap upon 
him. In many respects it would be better if a colt 
could reach three years of age before making his first 
service. While nothing in the service itself can injure 
a colt, yet too early service is likely to lead to the 
vice of masturbation. If a colt is to be used in his 
two year form, never mate him with more than eight 
or ten mares that year, and give him one mare every 
five days until he has served them all. Never use a 
young colt for teasing, and do not permit him to stand 
where he can see such work being done. If he can be 
used at light work at this time, by all means work him. 
In making the first service with a colt, use a quiet 



so 



STuniKS liv iioRSK nRi':Ki)iN>; 



steady mare, and have a stronti' man upon either side 
of her. As soon as the eolt has mounted and suc- 
ceeded in begimiiny his work proi)erly, have the men 
at each side of the mare take him by the fore legs 
and hold him well forAvard until he has made a com- 







Figure 26. Breeding chute in which mares may be secured 
before breeding by natural service. This is not a necessity, 
but a great convenience, and assuring the safety of the mare. 



plete service. By so doing, you will make a good server 
of him and keep him from getting into the habit of 
leaving the mare too quickly, which so often results 
in a withdrawal of semen. 



HANDLING THE STALLION 81 

All breeding should be done in a breeding chute, one 
of which is shown in figure 26. There are several rea- 
sons for this. In case a small mare is being bred, she 
has no way of twisting around and hurting herself. 
An 800 pound mare will hold up a ton stallion, if she 
will stand still, but the moment she begins to move 
about, she is likely to hurt herself. There is less dan- 
ger of the stallion getting kicked. If the mare is tied 
close against the end and her head tied high by means 
of the ring as shown in the illustration, she can neither 
hurt herself nor the stallion. In case of small or short 
mares, a floor can be dropped in the bottom to raise 
the mare up to any height desired. The best services 
are always made by raising mares slightly taller than 
the stallion. Another advantage in the chute is in 
being an aid in handling colts or badly broken stal- 
lions. There are few mare owners in the country not 
more or less afraid of stallions. Accidents often occur 
as a result of this, when mares are simply being held. 
If in a chute, and tied securely, one has little trouble 
from any of these sources. 

The Use of Breeding- Bags. All unnatural forms of 
copulation should be avoided. The use of breeding 
bags and cervical plugs are not only harmful in them- 
selves, but many a good stallion and jack have been 
ruined by their use. The act of copulation is made 
possible by the electric forces of sex. The stallion is 
positive, the mare negative. The use of any object 
which acts as a non-conductor of this interchange of 
electricity, has the same effect upon the animals as 
would masturbation. Many stallions refuse to serve 
with a breeding bag. They are wiser than their own- 



82 STUDIES IN IIOKSK BRKEDING 

ers who would require it of them. Others work with it 
fairly well for a while, but most of these soon have 
trouble. The most serious trouble is where they have 
difficulty in exhausting, and if the practice is in- 
dulged in for any length of time, this form of trouble 
becomes permanent. By all means abandon the use of 
all such devices. 

The practice of letting stallions run in the yard or 
pen to be used for breeding is to "be condemned. 
Mares will urinate more or less where breeding is done. 
If stallions have access to such places, one will notice 
that they are always smelling and straining to such 
an extent that their virility is likely tO' become impaired 
as a result. Unless stallions are permitted to run 
with mares all the time, they should never be per- 
mitted to run or exercise in yards that are used for 
mares. 

Exercise, The exercise to be given the stallion has 
already received brief mention in this chapter, but the 
proper exercise for the stallion is so essential to breed- 
ing success, that to give the subject the thought it 
merits requires further mention. Those who are at all 
observing, have no doubt noticed that the foals sired 
by the several stallions in their vicinity differ in other 
ways than in breed or family characteristics. The get 
of one stallion will begin their existence in an en- 
feebled condition. Those of another stallion will be 
subject to some particular disease or weakness; others 
will sire foals with nerves wanting; while the foals 
of other stallions will be ushered into life with all the 
apparent vitality of a full grown horse. I know of one 
stallion siring some fifty foals in one season, about 



HANDLING THE STALLION 83 

forty of them being weak in the back, so weak in fact, 
that many of them died, and all had to be helped up 
for several days. Any physical condition common to a 
large part of a stallion's foals, is the result of some 
weakness or abnormal condition of that stallion. This 
is a fact worth remembering. 

In times past, it has been the rule of most men to 
blame the mare for everything except that of produc- 
ing a good foal. Slipping, backing heavy loads or any 
one of several diseases on the part of the mare, may 
produce foetal trouble, yet in a large per cent of cases, 
the stallion is at fault for the loss of foals. I have 
never owned two stallions producing foals of the same 
vitality. Even the loss of foals while yet in a foetal 
existance is quite often the fault of the sire rather 
than the dam. In tests I have made of the semen of 
several stallions producing foals dying just before or 
at birth, the spermatozoa were of low vitality in all 
of them. Two stallions will stand for service in the 
same district, often in the same barn, serving mares 
kept under the same conditions, and subject to the 
same local environment, yet the loss of foals at birth 
will be much larger in the case of foals sired by one, 
than of those sired by the other. An inherited weak- 
ness on the part of the stallion is one cause of this, 
while a want of proper exercise is another. 

To prescribe a rule of work for stallions is no easy 
matter. What one man understands as work or exer- 
cise, another will convert into an abuse of the stallion. 
Then stallions differ so greatly in temperament, some 
actually requiring strenuous exercise to be able to 
give a good account of themselves in breeding, while 



STUDIES IN IIOKSK IIKKKDIAC 



others require but little exercise to give good result" 
as breeders. That every stallion in service should be 
given sufficient exercise to expand the lungs, quicken 
the circulation, strengthen the nervous S3^stem and 
harden the muscles, in order to be in a condition to 
beget the most and best foals possible, the breeding 
and quality of the stallion considered, can be denied 
by no one. The real question is how best to do it. 
Our light or harness breeds are generally given more 
exercip»e than our draft stallions, and they require it, 
as they possess a higher nervous organization. To use 
them in the harness for driving, is the best exercise that 
can be given them. Besides this kind of exercise will 
aid in stamping upon the offspring this same quality of 
speed or high acting, as the case may be. This prin- 
ciple as a factor in breeding, we should not overlook, 
for it is at work throughout all nature. The fighting 
instincts of canines and felines are always the most 
active at their season of mating. Antelope and deer 
v/hose natures make the quality of speed a defensive 
necessity, to aid them in fleeing from their enemies, 
always indulge this propensity in the extreme imme- 
diately before mating. 

This law of Nature will apply to the breeding of 
draft horses. Leading or driving in a cart is better 
than no exercise at all, yet it is not the exercise we 
should give our draft stallions if we ever expect to 
build up a breed of good American horses to be used 
for draft purposes. Real draft work in the harness is 
the only exercise for a draft stallion. The plow, har- 
row, disc, mower, binder or farm wagon upon the farm, 
or the dray or heavy transfer wagon in town or city 



HANDLING THE STALLION 85 

is an exercise that will fit a draft stallion for pro- 
ducing foals of the highest quality, and possessing a 
vitality which could not be given them by a stallion 
not worked. In addition to this, such use of our draft 
stallions will prove a mighty factor in developing and 
transmitting from stallion to foal in a high degree, all 
those muscles required by the draft horse in moving 
heavy loads. 

Nor do we need to stop working them in harness 
during the breeding season. The best success I have 
ever had with draft stallions has been by working them 
in the field during the first half of the day, then letting 
them rest a few hours, making their daily service at 
about four o'clock in the afternoon. There is very 
little danger of over- working a stallion in harness with 
only one service a day. If not abused, the harder he 
is worked, the better will be his foals. The strongest 
argument ever made in favor of the scrub stallion, is 
that he occasionally sires" a foal better than himself. 
This is only because of the limited number of his 
services and hard physical work. He is always in the 
pink of condition from the breeding point of view. 
Those who have never seen the test made, would be 
surprised at the disclosures made by the microscope 
upon the semen of a stallion as usually handled, and 
again of the same stallion after being worked hard in 
the harness for sixty days. 

Hard work and plenty of it, is the best thing that 
can. be given a slow or indifferent server, and it will 
cure a large per cent of partially sterile stallions. The 
owner of a stallion owes it to the public, quite as much 
as to himself, to have his stallion kept in such a con- 



86 STUDIES IN HOKSE BREEDING 

clition as to insure his siring the very best foals. The 
difference in the value of a foal ushered into life with 
some weakness or of low vitality, can not be compared 
with one beginning life endowed with all the vigor of 
constitution inherent in his race. Many ills of the 
horse result from some inherited weakness, which more 
likely than not was the result of a want of physical ex- 
ercise on the part of the sire. By the practice of giv- 
ing our stallions more work and less drugs, will enable 
us to produce a much better race of horses. Drugs and 
stimulants should be scrupulously avoided at all times, 
unless prescribed by a qualified veterinarian. 

Bams. No attempt will be made in this work to give 
plans or specifications for barn building. To intelli- 
gently do this would require a knowledge of the money 
to be used in the building. It would not be easy to 
find two men in the United States who had just the 
same amount of money to be used in building a barn. 
In fact, it requires very little money to build a good 
home for a stallion. I have never had better success 
as regards the health and breeding condition of stal- 
lions, than when I kept them in an open shed. This 
refers to stallions not at work in the harness. The 
more light and air the better. If one side of a building 
only is out, the wind will not draw through to en- 
danger a horse. Stallions or other horses kept with 
such a shelter, never have colds, and the open air is 
Nature's best tonic for all animal life. If kept in a 
barn, the stall should not be less than ten feet high 
to ceiling, so that air can be admitted from near the 
top so as not to blow directly upon the horse. Too 
much light can not be given. If a stallion is not to 



HA?fDLING THE STALLION 



87 



work in harness he should be given a box stall 12x16 
or larger. I am now using stalls 12x16 feet with a 
paddock attached 16x40 feet. This is fenced tight and 
eight feet high. During the greater part of the year 
the stallions have access to the paddocks night and 
day. In stormy or very windy weather, they are shut 
in the barns at night. 

I have been usmg cement floors for my stallions for 
many years, and with a noticeable improvement to their 
feet. Wet or moist floors and wet pastures make soft 
feet and a soft foot is always a poor foot. All animals 
grown in high and dry situations have good high feet 
with thick strong walls, while animals grown in low 
and wet situations, have soft feet with poor thin walls. 
Another advantage the cement floor offers, is that of 
cleanliness. It is easy to keep clean, and at least once 
each week should be scrubbed out with boiling water, 
when it should be well sprinkled with some coal tar 
disinfectant before bedding is replaced. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE SELECTION OF A BROOD MARE. 



Femininity. What masculinity is to the stallion, 
femininity is to the mare. The stallion should be posi- 
tive, the mare negative. The hard, determined expres- 
sion of the stallion should be changed to one of mildness 
and softness in the mare. The massive jaw, the nnis- 
cular crest, and the action expressive of great power in 
the stallion should in the mare be represented by refine- 
ment of character. A greater length of loin, and a wider 
and deeper make of rib should also be found in the mare. 
The mare is Nature's receptacle, to receive and develop 
the creation of the stallion. Other things being equal, 
the more feminine the mare, the better and surer breeder 
she will prove herself to be. I have observed that barren 
mares are more masculine than feminine. A lack of the 
sex characteristics is good evidence of a lack of procrea- 
tive power. Castrating colts while young, causes them to 
develop more like mares than stallions. Unsexing mares 
by removing their ovaries while young, will cause them to 
develop coarser, more like horses than mares. The same 
may be said of everything pertaining in any manner to 
sex. In selecting brood mares, great care should be exer- 
cised in selecting only those showing feminine character, 
which means they are well sexed. All brood mares famed 



THE SELECTION OF A RROOI) JI.VRE. 



89 




m tS 


a 




u 


0) 




03 



w ^ 6 

-,_- CO -nH 

S P > 



S.2 



H^ 



CO CJ 

gx3 cs 



2 s -^ 

X3 cc ^ 

^ ^ CO 
G O) 
oj q; jh 

=" "^ 1^ 
O TO o 

CS c ^ 
P .a;- 

CD <D 
S-' !h 

s 



0) 






3 .S >j 



90 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

for their excellence in such a capacity are always found 
to be of the most pronounced feminine type. Note the 
extreme feminine character as indicated by the refined 
head, ear, jaw and neck shown by the mare in figure 27. 
This mare produced a foal of the highest quality, every 
year for many years. It is not necessary that a mare 
should be undersized to be feminine. Some mares of 
extreme size are much more refined and feminine than 
others of less size. 

Stallioners Owning Brood Mares. One or more pure 
bred mares should be owned by every owner of a high 
class stallion. Even if the owner of a stallion lived in 
town, he could well afford to own a high class mare of 
the same breed to which his stallion belongs. In the 
first place, nothing would help him in securing patron- 
age for his stallion, from among the better class of men, 
so much as to be able to show a foal or two of the highest 
quality. Then again, the rearing of a good pure bred 
foal every year would add much to the profits of his 
stallion, enabling him to keep a strictly high class horse. 
Nothing so encourages the horse breeding industry in a 
community, as the pure bred mares which may be owned 
there. A good pure bred mare has been the means of 
causing many men to breed better horses. 

Where to Buy Mares. The purchasing of a pure 
bred mare has ended in many a disappointment. In 
times such as the present, when no legitimate business is 
paying such a revenue on the investment as the draft 
mare of quality, is a fairly good reason why such mares 
known to be producers are rarely offered at public sales. 
Those who have purchased mares at such sales, only to 
find in the years that follow, to have purchased a gelding 



THE SELECTION OF A BROOD MARE. 91 

would have proved, just as profitable are many. I have 
seen mares respond to the call of a stallion, while being 
sold under a positive guarantee that she was safe in foal. 

There are two rules in buying mares, which if followed 
closely will rarely result in a disappointment. The one 
is to buy mares only Math a foal at foot. Such a mare 
has proved herself a breeder. The other is to buy young 
fillies, and only of the man who bred them, that their sire 
and dam may both be seen. The latter plan is prefer- 
able, as by this way more may be known of what to expect 
of the filly, both as to her proving a producer, and the 
quality of her foals. 

This brings up the question of pedigree or certificate. 
Many believe if an animal is registered, it must be a pure 
bred. It does not need to be, and very often is not. 
Many mares and stallions are being sold every day with 
certificates that are far from being pure bred. They 
are known as top-cross animals and are far too common 
in the Percheron breed and stud book. High officials in 
the association of this breed are offering many such in 
their annual sales as shown by their catalogs. Such 
horses are only grades with a certificate and while these 
certificates may have a value of their own to a dealer, to a 
reputable breeder, they have no value whatever. How- 
ever, if one has had no experience with breeds and pedi- 
grees, he does not need to be deceived by these top-cross 
certificates. If the dams of any animal registered can 
not be traced back to an imported dam, that animal is 
only a grade. The following certificates, both taken 
from the stud book of the Percheron Society of America, 
will illustrate this point, the first one being a pure bred : 

Collector— No. 60152. 

Sire: Tremont 33647, by Due de Brogiie 2368 (1145), 



92 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

by Brilliant 1271 (755), by Brilliant 1899 (756), by 
Coco II (714), by Vieiix Chaslin (713), by Coco (712), 
by Mignon (715), by Jean le Blanc (789). 

Dam: Selma 46354, by Bayard 10959 (20891), by 
Luther 4093 (212), by Luther (792), by Pierre (887), by 
Laboureur (886), by Jean le Blanc (739). 

2cl dam: Niobrara 44715. by Bolet 14217 (19799), by 
Sans Souci 7100 (6070), by Snow-flake (107), by Avata 
1966 (912), by Nogent 738 (729), by Vidocq 483 (732), 
by Coco II (714), by Vieux Chaslin (713), by Coco 
(712), by Mignon (715), by Jean le Blanc (739). 

3d dam: Myra 6068 (Pacjuerette 6139), by Cheri 
(5464), by Mouton, etc. 

4th dam : Rosette (6134) , by Selim (749) . 

It will be noticed in the above certificate that the third 
and fourh dams are both imported, as indicated by the 
numbers in parenthesis. 

The following is the certificate of a so-called top-cross 
or grade : 

Cinq.— No. 54895. 

Sire: Costa 42290, by Leroy 21193, by Mithridate 
20535 (35918), by Archimede 11411 (7222), by Voltaire 
3540 (443), by Brilliant 1271 (755), by Brilliant 1899 
(756), by Coco II (714) by Vieux Chaslin (713), by 
Coco (712), by Mignon (715), by Jean le Blanc (739). 

Dam: Octo 25483, by Hercules 19985, by Messidor 
11567 (22456), by Forban 7368 (5374), by Picodor 
(5391), by Picodor. 

2d dam : Cafhrine, by A 'Venture 1448 (803). 

3d dam : Cath, by Premeier II 1451. 

4th dam : Calebs, by Emperor 658. 

5th dam: Carlo, by Chartres 518. 



TIIIC SELECTION OF A IJROOD MARE. 93 

It will be noticed in the above certificate that the clams 
do not trace back to an imported mare, and that only the 
first dam is registered. Therefore the colt Cinq. No. 
54895 is only a top-cross, being of the sixth cross and pos- 
sessing sixty-three sixty-fourths of Percheron blood. If 
the other sixty-fourth part of the blood of this colt was 
of any of the other draft breeds, no harm could result. It 
is because of not knowing of what this outcross consists, 
that we should not use such horses for breeding purposes. 
It may be any of the small breeds, or even of an Indian 
pony. As soon as the American farmer and breeder 
understand what this means to the future of the horse 
breeding industry, such horses will be given no place in 
breeding. 

Then there are other certificates given with both stal- 
lions and mares by unscrupulous dealers, possessing no 
value whatever. There are a few associations in the 
country quite ready to register anything for the fee. In 
buying such horses, one is always buying a grade with a 
pedigree, which is used only as an aid in making the sale. 

In conformation, the draft mare should not differ from 
the draft stallion. Size, the sloping pastern and shoulder, 
good feet, and hock of the best, both as regards quantity 
and quality, should always be demanded. If good foals 
are desired, good mares must be a factor in their produc- 
tion. A good and well sexed stallion, with correct con- 
formation may be able to sire very good foals when 
mated with only ordinary mares, yet Ave should not 
expect him to do it all. The best horses are possible only 
by the use of good mares. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE CARE OF THE BROOD MARE. 

The mere ownership of a mare does not mean that 
one owns a brood mare ; yet, if a mare refuses to produce 
her kind, it is the fault of the owner and not her own. 
Nature made every entire female a breeder. If you own 
a mare of breeding age, and she does not breed, ask your- 
self why. About twentj^ years ago, I purchased some 
mares in eastern Iowa and Illinois. These mares were 
from three to nine years of age, and the most of these 
were sold only because they would not produce. In 
April, one hundred and one of these mares were turned 
out to range in the northwest part of South Dakota. 
They were all large mares of draft blood, weighing from 
1400 to 1700 pounds. About the first of June, I began 
breeding them to an imported Percheron stallion. The 
mares were all driven into a corral every Monday and 
Thursday. All mares in season would be bred upon those 
days by making one natural service and capsuling the 
others. I made but two services each week with the stal- 
lion. In thirty days, every mare had been bred once. 
Some were bred as many as three times during the sea- 
son. The next spring, these 101 mares produced fifty- 
three live foals. The next year, they produced ninety-one 
live foals, handled and bred in the same manner. The 
third year, every mare had produced at least one foal, 



THE CAEE OF THE BROOD MAKE 



95 



and yet many of their former owners were honest enough 
to tell me the mares he was selling were barren. The 
two oldest mares were nine years of age when I bought 







Figure 28. A normal anterior presentation. 

them, and their owner told me he would not think of 
selling them if they would breed. He had bred them 
every year from their third to their eighth year, but with 
no results. With such a record behind these mares, and 
with nothing having been done to aid them in breeding, 
but simply turning them back to Nature, every mare 
proved herself a producer. 

No one thing which I have tried to impress upon the 
minds of farmers and breeders, and with so little effect, 
is the need of better care of mares in foal, and those they 
wish to breed. They will drive an in-foal mare six or 
eight miles to town and tie her to the hitch rack. They 
will work them until they are warm, and then let them 



96 STUDIES IN IIOKSE BREEDING 

stand in the wind until chilled. They will even drive 
them to a buggy; use them in deep mud and upon slip- 
pery roads withoiit shoes; back heavy loads with them; in 
fact do scores of things with them every day which they 
should not do, and then wonder why they do not breed, or 
why they lose their foals. Because their grandfather's 
old Kate did these things and produced foals for many 
years, is conclusive proof to their minds that all mares 
should be treated in the same manner. 

For more than twenty years, I have classified my 
country patrons into : Breeders, grain farmers and hay 
farmers. Those designated as breeders made the breed- 
ing of live stock their chief business. The grain farmers 
made the growing and marketing of grain their specialty. 
The hay fanners grew and marketed hay. The table 
below will show how they stand as breeders. 

No. of Mares Average Age No. of Per Cent 

^^^^"^ Bred of Mares Foals of Foals 

Breeder 5146 9.6 3447 67 

Grain Farmer. 3297 9.3 1747 58 

Hay Farmer . . 2674 9.9 1042 39 

Average ... 11117 6236 56 

It is a long call from 67 per cent down to 39 per cent. 
What a difference to the stallion owner ! We do not 
have to go far to learn why the hay farmer produces 
so few foals. In hauling his hay to market, he will be 
out in all kinds of Aveather and upon every known condi- 
tion of roads. AA^hen he reaches the market his mares 
will be warm, and often required to stand out in the 
cold for hours. Colds and a general catarrhal condition 
are usually the result. Only this winter, I called the 
attention of a farmer to the fact that his mare was too 



THE CAEE OF THE BROOD MAEE 



97 



warm to be left standing in the cold. He thought dif- 
ferently, but only a few days after this occurrence one 
of his neighbors informed me that this same. mare had 
aborted. In this table the grain farmer shows 53 per 
cent of foals. The same rule applies in a less degree. 
The more brood mares are used away from home and 
upon the roads, the fewer the foals. The breeder, re- 
gardless of the kind of stock he is breeding, produces 
a much higher jper cent of foals, and for two reasons. 
His breeding and feeding of stock offers no occasion for 
his mares to be worked upon the roads. Secondly, the 
breeder is a higher type of man than the grain or hay 
farmer. He will always be found with larger sym- 




Figure29. A normal posterior presentation. 

pathies, which is a mighty factor in successful breeding. 

Use of Mares. Much depends upon the occupation 

or general use to which mares are put, in the way of 

producing foals sucessfully. Upon this subject, I have 



98 STUDIES IN HOKSE BREEDING 

been keeping records also. I have classified them accord- 
ing to their occupation, into farm work, where they 
never left the farm ; combination farm work and driving ; 
driving with no other occupation; and saddle work. 
This does not include so many as the former table, be- 
cause of not always knowing how to classify some mares ; 
besides there are a few mares apparently used for several 
purposes. In this table mares were used only as speci- 
fied. 

pi No, of Average No. of Per 

^^^^ Mares Bred A^e Foals Cent 

Farm work 2361 9.4 1605 68 

Farm work and driving 2417 9.1 1305 54 

Driving 1683 8.9 690 41 

Saddle 264 7.9 76 29 

Average 6725 9. 3676 54 

Here we learn that the occupation of the mare has 
much to do with her as a producer. The above table 
teaches us that if a mare must work, her work should 
be something she can do at a slow pace. Where the 
occupation was farm work alone, the mares produced 
68 per cent of foals ; while farm work with driving gave 
only 54 per cent. Driving gave still less with a show- 
ing of 41 per cent. The saddle mares did not produce 
enough foals to justify a stallioner in breeding them, 
unless the fee be paid in advance. The pace they are 
required to make, coupled with the extra weight upon 
the back is fatal to breeding. While in the south during 
the winter of 1903, I met a breeder of saddle horses 
and he told me his per cent of foals was so small as to 
make the business unprofitable. When I learned that 
his mares were being used under the saddle much of 



THE CARE OF THE BKOOD MARE 



99 



the year, I suggested that his brood mares be ridden at 
no time, nor for any purpose. Three years later, this 
breeder wrote me his foal crop had more than doubled 
since he began using his brood mares for breeding only. 
Feeding Mares for Foals. Feeding has much to do 
with successful breeding, and it requires even more 
than a balanced ration for best results. Corn can be 
so used with bran, clover, alfalfa or other feed rich in 



mm 

■mkm 



mm 

11 




Anterior presentation, with head turned tack. 



protein, that chemically it will not differ from oats, 
yet mares fed oats will produce more foals than when 
corn is any part of the ration. Mares fed oats with 
bran will produce more foals, than those fed oats with- 
out the bran. Mares fed grass and hay with no grain. 
Mill produce more foals than when fed grain of any kind. 
The following table speaks for itself. 



100 STl'DIKS lA IIOHSIO iUiKKDlNG 



No. of Marcs 
Bred 


Feeds 


iVveraije 
Ac(e 


No. of 
P'oals 


Pei- 

Cent 


4:6S 


Range feed 


10.1 


425 


91 


183 


Grass in summer 


J 








alfalfa winter 


9.9 


161 


81 


208 


Hay, oats, bran 


9.2 


147 


71 


398 


Hay and corn 


8.7 


195 


49 


231 


Corn, bran, hay 


8.9 


117 


52 


306 


Corn, alfalfa or 










clover 


8.8 


177 


58 


418 


Hay and oats 


9. 


284 


68 



The mares in this table kept under range conditions 

were not worked. Those fed grass and alfalfa worked 

about one-third of the time. The others were selected 

because of being owned upon farms where good care 

and kind treatment was the rule. They all worked, 

but never left the farm. The rations fed were the same 

as had been used for many years. Nothing was left 

undone in the selection of these mares, to have every 

condition, other than feed, the same with all the mares. 

The results of this experiment is at variance with the 

opinions of many of our best breeders, but such facts 

are more convincing to my mind than the unsupported 

theories of any man. The question of feed is one of 

the unsolved problems of the American breeder. The 

question of soil in producing the same feed, is of equal 

interest. Alfalfa, for instance, grown in the corn belt 

is but little if any better than clover. This same plant 

grown further west at an altitude of 3000 or more feet. 

is the best food for growing and developing a draft 

horse, ever grown upon mother earth. In bone, and 

muscle and the quality of l)oth, nothing can compare 

with it. 

Then again, there is corn. Chemically, there is no 



THE CARE OF THE BROOD MARE 101 

reason why corn can not be balanced and made a good 
feed, yet in fact, unless the breeders of draft horses 
in the corn belt change from corn to some other feed, 
within a century their mares will all be barren. It 
has the same effect upon the stallions, as shown in Chap- 
ter IV. Either stallions or mares that have never been 
fed corn can be put upon a corn ration for a year or 
two without apparent injury. After that length of time, 
the injurious effect of the corn becomes noticeable. I 
have known many stallions to be fed corn, exclusively 
for their grain ration for three or four years, acquitting 
themselves nicely in the stud during this time, and theji 
become sterile all at once. These same stallions were 
again made breeders within a year by simply substitut- 
ing oats for the corn. The same has proved true of many 
mares. I have often succeeded in restoring to bearing 
corn fed. mares that were supposed to be barren, by 
simply changing their diet from corn to other grain or 
alfalfa. 

It is such facts as these that show the utter folly of 
attempting short time experiments in grain feeding. 
Such an experiment to be of the highest value to breeders 
should be conducted for a period of twenty years, or 
even longer. Theories may be all right in their place, 
but every known fact shows conclusively that corn is 
both debilitating and degenerating to the horse. The 
temperature of mares fed corn, averages higher than 
in the case of those fed oats or other grain. As to 
corn being a factor in degeneracy, I have made many 
extended observations. In the case of two lots of mares 
of the same breeding and quality, the one fed corn 
and the other oats or no grain, and both lots bred to the 



102 



STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 



same stallion, those fed corn always produced the poorer 
foals. These foals were not only inferior to the others 
as foals, but did not mature into as good horses. In 
many tests I have made of the bone of horses fed upon 
different grains, those fed corn always showed the weak- 
est bone. In weight per cubic inch, it appeared to be as 
good as the bone of horses fed other grains, but as soon 
as it would be given the leverage test it was found pos- 




Figure 31. Posterior, or buttock presentation. 



sessing very little strength. Those reared from their 
colthood up to maturity, upon an exclusive diet of 
western alfalfa, showed the best quality of bone of any 
draft horse tested. For the same breeding, the bone 
was larger, and greater in both weight and strength. 

I shall not attempt ^to say why a corn diet has such 
an effect upon stallions and brood mares, for I do not 
know. To be positive, concerning this question, I shall 



THE CARE OF THE BEOOD MAKE 103 

want to experiment further. However, this fact I have 
settled to my own satisfaction, that corn is indigestible 
to any horse. It may be because of its indigestibility 
that the system becomes so impaired in all its varied 
functions, that degeneracy naturally follows. 

Salt should be accessible to brood mares at all times. 
This will be djscussed at length in the next chapter. 
Water should be given often, to avoid drinking too much 
at one time. There is danger of abortion if in-foal 
mares drink too much cold water at one time. Too much 
hay or other coarse food is neither good nor necessary 
for mares. As we have already seen, alfalfa is the best 
of all feeds. Clover should be well cured and placed 
under cover without any foreign moisture being per- 
mitted to reach it. Any hay which has been wet with 
rain during the curing process, is not very good for 
a brood mare. Good bright oat straw, free from rust 
is preferable to damaged hay. Corn stover well cured 
is good for both mares and stallions. Sorghum or sugar 
cane is a hazardous food for a brood mare. Upon one 
large farm where many mares were kept for breeding 
purposes, sorghum hay was fed for three years with 
good results, but the fourth year because of some condi- 
tion of weather in curing, it caused the loss of more than 
half of the foal crop. The same experience has been 
recorded" on several occasions. It may be fed several 
seasons without apparent injury, only to play havoc 
the next year. Millet should never be fed in any form 
to a brood mare. The same may be said of all those 
wild grasses likely to contain ergot. 

The Stabling of Mares has much to do with their 
fficnndity. In the early settlement of this cr>untry ou^^ 



104 



STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 



mares and horses were sheltered in cheaply constructed 
stables, in which the question of ventilation did not 
need to be considered. There were always enough open- 
ings in the stables of our early settlers to provide venti- 
lation. Mares were much more fecund in those days 
than they are today. We did not hear of colds, and 




Figure 32. Louped, or doubled presentation, all four feet 
appearing at once. 



coughs and influenzas in those times, as we do now. Iji 
.modern times, the first thought of one in building a 
new barn is to provide against the cold of winter. Little 
thought is given the question of either light or venti- 
lation, both essential to breeding success. If mares are 
to be worked during the winter they should be housed 
at night in a barn, but this barn should be built so as 
to admit of an abundance of light and air. Mention 



THE CARE OF THE BROOD MARE 105 

has already been made in chapter IV, as to high ceilings. 
so that air can be admitted above the horses. These 
openings should be left open at all times. 

Mares Running Out All the Time will do better, if 
they do not have to be worked, than those kept in barns 
of any kind. An open shed can be given them to 
run under during stormy weather. For several years, 
I have taken my pure bred mares out of expensively 
built barns, and let them run out at all times with only 
a cheaply built open shed to provide against storms. I 
have increased the per cent of foals considerable by 
doing this. Our modern barns are the source of much 
trouble to breeders because of being built warm, at the 
expense of sunlight and ventilation. Sunlight is the 
best germicide we know of, and the cheapest. 

When to Breed Mares depends upon the amount of 
work required of them. More foals are lost from among 
the early ones, than from those coming later in the 
season. About eleven per cent of foals are lost before 
weaning time, from deaths and abortion. This is upon 
the basis of mares enfoaled. The losses from death 
following a normal birth to weaning time, is about 85 
per cent before May first and 15 per cent after that 
date. The causes of these deaths will be taken up later. 
Because of this heavy loss early in the season, one should 
have their mares foal as late in the season as possible. 
This enables one to have the foals come when grass is 
good. There is no place so good for a mare to foal, 
as in a good pasture. Many of the worst ills of the 
young foal can be avoided by this practice. The danger 
of infection is thus reduced to a minimum, besides there 
is little danger of the newly born foal having bowel 



106 STUDIES IN IIOKSE BREEDING 

trouble, if the mare has access to good grass. If be- 
cause of the conditions of farm work, one must have 
some of his foals come early, he should have everything 
in readiness for them. A mare should never be kept 
tied in with other horses for three or four weeks before 
her foaling date. Many foals have been lost by doing 
this, as foals often put in their appearance long before 
they are expected. A mare about to foal should be 
given a good box stall, so constructed that the foal will 
have no way of crawling under the manger or getting 
into positions which will make it impossible for him to 
gain his feet. This stall should be kept scrupulously 
clean. If an extra stall can be provided, so much the 
better. As soon as the foal can stand upon his feet, 
and the placenta has been expelled from the uterus of 
the mare, they can be transferred to the clean stall 
thus avoiding as much as possible, all forms of infectiop 
If the placenta has not been expelled within thirty 
minutes, and does not yield to very gently pulling upon 
it, the arm should be disinfected and inserted into the 
uterus. By gentle and careful manipulation of the 
fingers between the placenta and membranes of the 
uterus, the placenta can easily be taken away. There 
is nothing difficult about this, any man can do it, if 
he possess ordinary intelligence. The sooner the placenta 
is expelled, the better, as the uterus begins to contract 
very soon after the birth of the foal. This contraction 
of the uterus more tightly fastens its hold upon the 
placenta. If the placenta has to be taken away by force, 
it will be well to irrigate the uterus with a warm three 
per cent solution of carbolic acid. 

Parturition maj^ be expected anywhere from 315 to 



THE CARE OF THE BKOOD MABE 107 

360 days. If one knew just when conception occurred, 
he would know more about when to expect the foai. 
It may take place anywhere from two days to a month 
after service. I doubt very much if a mare ever carried 
a foetus twelve months, and yet we know of many that 
do not foal for even longer than that after being bred. 
A much larger per cent of mares do not conceive until 
the first heat following that in which they were bred, 
than any of us know. In a test of 46 mares that were 
returned in a condition to be bred three weeks from the 
date of a former service, 29 of them produced foals 
without being re-bred. This accounts for the phenomena 
of mares being bred to jacks, and then again three weeks 
later to a stallion, and producing a mule the next 
spring. 

A Gestation Table embracing about 7,000 mares pro- 
ducing live foals, over which I had control and in which 
there can be no possible mistake shows the colts were 
carried an average of 336 1-8 days, while the fillies were 
carried 337 7-8 days. The shortest time was 297 days 
(a strong vigorous foal resulting), and the longest time 
was 391 days. The foal carried but 297 days was of 
a young mare that had produced one foal, and bred 
seven days later, resulting in this foal. 

There is a certain rule by which one may foretell the 
time a mare will produce her foal. Generally this can 
be known by the enlargement of the vulva, the falling 
in of the muscles about the croup (relaxation), and 
the filling of the mammary glands and teats. A day 
or two before parturition the teats show a waxy sub- 
stance at their ends, and frequently there is a flow of 
milk. But after all is. said, one should not trust too 



1^^ STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 



much to either time or appearance. As soon as there 
IS a possible chance for the arrival of a foal, the mare 
should be placed by herself as already noted. 

Sometimes there will be no sign or act upon the 
part of the mare of what is to happen, when all at 
once she will lay down and begin to labor. In the 
breeding of horses, no occasion ever presents itself, when 
the presence of a man with good nerve and a level head 
IS so much in need as this. No domestic animal labors 
so strenuously, during parturition as the mare. If con- 
ditions are normal, a few minutes labor and all is over. 
If one is present at this time, he will soon see the first 
presentation, which is normally the forefeet, quickly 
followed by the nose. With such a presentation, one 
can help the mare very much by taking a foot in each 
hand and pulling as she labors. If your labor is in 
concert with hers, you can do no harm by pulling with 
all your might. By this help, one can relieve a mare 
of her foal quickly, saving her much wasted energy. 

If the labor of a mare continues for any considerable 
time, say half an hour, with no presentation, one will 
usually find something wrong. Occasionally there will 
be a wrong presentation from the first, some of which 
are easily described. In a normal presentation, the 
bottom of the feet point toward the hind feet of the 
mare. Should the bottom of the feet of the foal point 
upward, the foal is either upside down, or else it is 
the hind feet presented. Some times one foot only is 
present, when the other will be turned back. At other 
times, both fore-feet will be presented, but the head and 
neck are turned back. Either of these two positions 
will cause the loss of the mare unless she has help. In 



Till-: CARK OJi^ 'J'lIE BKOOI) jMAKE 109 

one instance, I saw all four of the feet presented at 
once, and yet the foal was straightened and taken away 
alive. Whatever the nature of a wrong presentation, 
the mare will need help and at once. In all such cases, 
a veterinarian should be called as early as possible. 
Delays in trouble of this nature are mighty costly af- 
fairs, as not only the foal is to be lost, but the mare as 
well. If a veterinarian can not be had, by all means 
try and do something yourself. Any man with strength 
and pluck, and some knowledge of the genital organs of 
the mare can do much if he only will. The first neces- 
sity is to know the foal is in such a position that it 
can be expelled. Sometimes when the presentation ap- 
pears normal and yet the raare is unable to expel the 
foal, it will be found that one or both of the hind feet 
are bent under itself, and so far forward as to bend 
the posterior half into a loop or double. This position 
causes the hind feet to catch at the pelvis, making it 
impossible to pass through. Such a position is more 
easily corrected than many another. By pushing the 
foal back, the hind legs are easily straightened. The 
most difficult presentations I have ever met with, are 
those where the head is turned back, and those known 
as superior presentations, that is, where the foal is 
doubled, the back trying to come first. In the latter, 
it matters not which end you get first. The difficulty 
is in getting it turned. In such cases, after the mare 
had become quite helpless, I have used block and tackle 
to raise them behind, so that the foal by its own gravity 
will drop forward and downward, thereby helping 
greatly in turning it. Whatever the nature of the diffi- 
culty, one should never give up -so long as there is life 



110 STUDIES IN IIOKSE BREEDING 

in the mare. As a spur to greater efforts, one should 
always bear in mind that unless the foal is expelled, 
the mare is lost. 

A mare should be fed grain very sparingly, both 
before and after foaling. Excessive grain feeding at 
this time is likely to result in the foal having trouble 
with its digestion. The digestive organs of a ncMdy born 
foal are extremely delicate, and are easily deranged by 
injudicious feeding of the mare. If the season is early 
and the weather chilly, be careful and not let the mare 
have much cold water. Cold water in very large quan- 
tities during the four or five days after foaling, may 
cause trouble which will be mentioned later. It is much 
better and safer to give her warm water for several 
days. If the mare foals during warm weather, she can 
be trusted to drink as she has been accustomed to do. 
If the weather is warm, and grass is good, she will do 
better upon the grass than any other feed. If she is 
of draft breeding, she will need grain with the grass 
after the foal is a week old. None of the grasses in the 
corn belt contain enough nutriment to grow a good draft 
horse without grain. Then we must not forget that this 
mare must digest and assimilate food for two, and some- 
times three, as she is generally rebred by the time the 
foal is ten days old. No grain will equal good, heavy 
oats. 



CHAPTER VII. 



BARRENNESS AND STERILITY. 

Barrenness in Mares and Sterility in Stallions is more 
often the result of an inherited tendency than most 
of us are willing to admit. For many years, I worked 
systematically in an endeavor to learn, if I could, the 
basic cause of this tendency. Among other things, I 
tested the fluids (blood) of many stallions and mares 
as to the per cent of salt found in these fluids. For 
this work, I used both mares and stallions possessing all 
degrees of virility and sterility. The average for stal- 
lions was 71-100 of one per cent, ranging all the way 
from 5-10 of one per cent to 92-100 of one per cent. 
The mares showed an average of 76-100 of one per cent, 
slightly higher than the stallions. They ranged all the 
way from 54-100 of one per cent to 1.01 per cent. The 
stallion testing 92-100 of one per cent was one famed for 
his virility. With no exception they were stallions pos- 
sessing a lower virility, as the per cent of salt showed 
a lower test. When 55-100 of one per cent was reached, 
the stallions became sterile or nearly so ; five per cent 
of foals being the best showing made by any stallion 
below that test. 

The mares testing 1.01 per cent was one that had pro- 
duced fourteen foals in as many years. The same results 



112 STUDIES IN HORSE HREEUING 

were obtained with the mares as given by the stallions ; 
the lower the per cent of salt, the lower the fecundity 
of the mare. All mares testing below 6-10 of one per 
cent of salt were found barren. Here we have some- 
thing tangible upon Avhich to base the cause of this 
shy breeding tendency. This is a hereditary tendency, 
but it can be overcome in part at least, by feeding salt 
to all breeding animals. It was only last summer that 
one of the leading live stock journals of the country 
advised its readers to feed salt sparingly to their breed- 
ing animals. I have been feeding my stallions and 
mares all the salt I could get them to consume for many 
years, and with uniformly good results. It can readily 
be understood that salt could be forced into a horse by 
mixing it with feed in such quantities as to impair 
digestion. My method has been to have salt accessible 
to my stallions and mares at all times. In addition to 
this, I add a teaspoonful of salt to the feed of each stal- 
lion daily, and to the mares twice each week. 

The Question of Breeds has something to do as to 
barrenness and sterility. From this view-point, the table 
below offers quite a study. These stallions were all pure- 
bred, about 70 per cent of all the breeds having been 
imported. They were owned and stood for service in 
the states of Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, 
North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. All five of 
the breeds were represented in every state. The mares 
were such mares as came to be bred, the service regi- 
sters being used to obtain the number of mares. The 
number of foals given are for the number actually found. 
This would be as fair for one breed as another. Some 
of the stallions were used at the same stand two or more 



BARRENNESS AND STERILITY 



113 



seasons, and the number of mares given include those 
for all the seasons. Only stallions owned by farmers 
who owned their farms are included iu this table. 
These farmers might be considered above the average 
as horsemen and breeders. In gathering statistics for 
this table, a stallion was occasionally reported as sterile. 
In such cases, the mares bred were not tabulated. It 
was the performances of breeding stallions that I wished 
to obtain. The per cent of sterile stallions reported was : 
Belgians, 3.09 per cent; Clydesdale, 4.6; Percherons, 
3.16; Shires, 5.02; Suffolks, none. 



Breed 

Belgian . . 
Clydesdale 
Percheron 

Shire 

Suffolk . . . 



No. of 
Stallions 

219 
103 
613 
321 
27 



No. of 
Mares Bred 

29783 

9211 

83659 

41976 

2397 



No. of 
Foals 

18168 

4990 

46017 

20571 

1554 



Per cent 
of Foals 

61 
54 
55 
49 
69 



The above table teaches us that the Suffolk leads, with 
a showing of 69 per cent of foals. The Shire is lowest 
with only 49 per cent of foals, a difference of 20 per 
cent. The Clydesdale and Percherons are about the 
same, while the Belgian is second in the table with a 
shoMdng of 61 per cent. Breed then has something to 
do as to the number of foals, we may expect. Nor does 
the factor of breed effect the stallions only. It is just 
as plainly indicated upon the part of the mares. 

The folloAving table is a record for three years of 
American bred registered mares, owned in the same 
states as given for the stallions. 



11-4 



STUUIEvS IN IICRSE BREEDING 



No. of 


No. of 


Per cent 


Mares 


Foals 


of Foals 


191 


405 


71 


78 


153 


65 


711 


454 


68 


367 


652 


59 


19 


47 


82 



Breed 

Belgian . . . 
Clydesdale 
Pereheron 

Shire 

Suffolk . . . 



These mares were from four to ten years of age. All 
of them were worked some, but none very much. In 
this table, while the ratio varies slightly, yet the breeds 
hold their same positions. Imported mares of the same 
breeds are not so fecund. The act of importing itself 
is something of a factor in producing barrenness. The 
table below is a record of mares for the three years 
following that in which they were imported. If they 
were imported during the year 1900, the records begin 
with their being bred the season of 1901. This gave 
them a chance to recover from the ill effects of import- 
ing. The mares in both tables were those owned by 
small breeders, that is farmer-breeders, who would own 
from one to five such mares. 



Breed 

Belgian . . . 
Clydesdale 
Pereheron 

Shire 

Suffolk ... 



No. of Mares 

61 

17 
212 
134 

11 



No. of Foals 

89 

19 
267 
133 

28 



Per cent 
of Foals 

49 
38 
42 

33 

84 



Again the breeds hold their same position as to fecund- 
ity, differing only in ratio. These imported mares 
were all of breeding age when they landed in this 
country, but this table makes a sorry showing for such 
mares during their first three years with us, the Suffolks 



BARRENNESS AND STERILITY 115 

excepted. It is to be hoped they may do better in the 
future. Such a showing does not make them very profit- 
able to their owners. 

Feeding has much to do with the sterility of stal- 
lions. This M^as shown conclusively in Chapter IV. The 
feeding of corn to stallions, especially young stallions, 
has been the beginning of many disappointments. All 
kinds of feed having a tendency to produce a high tem- 
perature should be avoided. If stallions reach ten years 
of age in good physical and sexual condition, their sexual 
powers are not easily impaired by ordinary means after 
that age. This is because of the fact that only stallions 
of the greatest sexual power and vigor ever reach that 
age without becoming impaired. Many stallions start 
out with much promise in their early life, only to become 
of no value as producers by the time they are seven or 
eight years old. It is such stallions that need our very 
best care. Besides they should be used very sparingly 
in the stud. 

Using Breeding Bags on stallions and jacks is a very 
common cause of sterility. No stallion or jack can be 
used with a breeding bag without positive injury. Thou- 
sands of dollars have already been lost in this manner. 
Natural copulation is effected by the interchange of 
sexual electricity. Any foreign barrier which is a non- 
conductor of this electricity will soon ruin the best horse 
in the world. Such a barrier has the same effect upon 
the stallions as masturbation. We have no need of 
training stallions to become masturbators, as there are 
plenty of them without this training. 

Masturbation is another cause of sterility. Young 
horses acquiring this vicious habit are almost certain of 



116 STUDIES IN HOKSE BKEEDliS'G 

going wrong as breeders. If this habit is of long stand- 
ing, it is almost impossible to overcome it. Nothing is 
better than steady work and a cooling laxative diet. 

Vigor Tablets and other stimnlants are frequent 
causes of sterility. Doping stallions with drugs can 
never do any good, and may do very much harm. In 
the first place no stallion ever needs that kind of stim- 
ulating. Good feeding and plenty of physical work is 
the best stimulant knoAvn. The nerves can be strength- 
ened, the muscles made more firm ; the circulation quick- 
ened and the performance of every function of the horse 
improved by work, better than by any drugs. There 
will always be grafters and quacks ready to sell one 
tablets and powders and tonics without end, but leave 
them alone. 

Colds, Influenzas and many forms of sickness are 
the causes of temporary sterility, sometimes resulting 
in permanent sterility. Stallions partially sterile are 
likely to be made worse by these causes. There are 
stallions appearing in the best of health from October 
until April, and then annually go Avrong for the balance 
of the year. Such stallions have little value as breeders, 
and it will generally prove more profitable to castrate 
them, than to spend time and money in trying to make 
breeders of them. 

Cystic Degeneration of one or both testicles occa- 
sionally is the cause of sterility. Sometimes it is a 
cystic condition of the spermatic cord rather than the 
testicles, but in either case, there is no help for the 
stallion. This is made even worse, by being one of those 
difficult conditions impossible of diagnosing, except in 
the last stages of the disease. When discovered castra- 



BAEEENNESS AND STEEILITY 117 

tion will make yon a work horse, if not delayed too 
long. 

Contagious Diseases of the generative organs will 
make both stallions and mares unprolific. A number of 
years ago, I was called into the western part of Nebraska, 
to examine some stallions that had very suddenly become 
sterile. In examining the semen with the microscope, the 
form of bacilhis shown in figure 33 was disclosed. These 
stallions had proved to be virile under all circumstances, 



f "■ V 

\ ^ 



/ 



\ 



„^ \ 



\ 



/ 



x:< 



>( 



Figure 33. Microbes found in the semen of a sterile stal- 
lion. These germs caused the depopulation of several herds in 
the western part of the country. 

when all at once they became sterile. Every mare served 
by them became barren and as a result of this highly 
infectious malady, several ranches were depopulated of 
their horses. No ulcers, cancers, or other outward mani- 



118 STUDIES IN I-IORSE BREEDING 

festation was iu evidence in the case of any of these 
stallions, yet in the semen of every one was found these 
germs. 

Idleness or a want of proper exercise will lower the 
sterility of any stallion. The spermatozoa of idle stal- 
lions never have the vitality of those from stallions given 
daily exercise. Very few stallions wintered in idleness 
are capable of settling mares early in the spring, while 
those kept in harness during the winter are always in 
good condition at the beginning of the breeding season. 
Close confinement has been the cause of many stallions 
going wrong. All stallions kept in close quarters and 
without exercise will sire foals of lower vitality than if 
they had been properly exercised. 

Overwork to the extent of causing a break down 
of the more important functions of the stallion, some- 
times ends in sterility. I have never known this to be 
done except in the case of very young stallions, two 
years or less of age. I have known of several two year 
old colts to be completely broken clown in constitution 
by overwork. There is little danger of this being done 
in the case of mature stallions. With them the work 
is too little rather than too much. If a two year old 
colt proves himself a breeder, but does not make a good 
showing later, there is something wrong with his hand- 
ling. This happens quite frequently. The fact that he 
acquitted himself well in his two or even three year form, 
is conclusive proof that he is a normal breeder. Some 
stallions do very well for three or four years, and then 
become sterile, or nearly so at once. In investigating 
such cases, the following results were obtained. 



BAEEENWESS AND STEEILITY 119 

Excessive use in breeding 183 

Masturbation 98 

The use of breeding bags 87 

Too close confinement 39 

Vigor tablets or tonics 67 

Influenza (pink eye) 11 

Infectious diseases of a sexual nature 9 

Overworking young colts 3 

Fevers . . .' 4 

No cause could be assigned 43 

Total 544 

Of the 544 stallions becoming sterile, after proving 
themselves breeders, 183 of them could be assigned to 
excessive breeding. These stallions were mostly abused 
as four year olds. It is not uncommon to see a stallion 
of that age required to make two or more services daily. 
Because of their trouble with dentition at this age, 
a four year old stallion should never be used upon more 
than 50 mares. There is no reason why a draft stallion 
should not be as virile at twenty, as at any earlier period 
of his life, and he will be if used and handled intelli- 
gently. The second largest number could be assigned to 
the vice of masturbation. This vice is not only making 
many sterile stallions, but it is making many others partly 
sterile. Breeding bags make a bad show^ing as does also 
the use of tonics or stimulants given to slow servers. 
That a stallion is a slow server is nothing against him. 
Some of the most virile stallions are exceedingly slow. 
Such stallions never need any drugs. A few minutes 
brisk exercise immediately before the service will do 
more than any drug. Diseases of various natures, also 
bring about sterility. There were 43 becoming sterile, 
for which no cause could be assigned. These stallions 



120 STUDIES IN HOKSE BREEDING 

had been properly exercised, liad never been sick, were 
given the best of care and had never been used in excess 
in breeding. This makes it impossible to assign a cause, 
unless it would be the result of an inherited tendency. 
It is my belief that an inherited tendency to sterility 
was the cause, but as this is one of the things not easily 
proven, I am willing to give them an unassignable cause. 




Figure 71. A section of tlie ovary of a barren mare. It 
will be noticed that no true GrafRan follicles are present. (300 
diameters.) 

Mares with a tendency to barrenness will produce stal- 
lions inclined to be more or less sterile. Stallions par- 
tially sterile will sire stallions possessing the same defect. 
Upon the other hand, stallions of known virility and 
mares highly fecund are always the otfspring of pro- 
ductive parents. 



BARRENNESS AND STERILITY 121 

Again Taking Up the Question of Barren Mares, 

there are more agencies at work causing barrenness in 
mares than sterility in stallions. A mare will produce 
several foals in as many years, and then refuse to pro- 
duce another, and all because of a congested condition, 
the result of a cold. The number of barren mares in 
the country is enough to discourage the breeder and 
stallioner. Since Nature made every mare a producer 
of her kind, if she does not reproduce herself, there is 
something wrong as to the manner in which she is kept. 

Feeding has already been mentioned as having much 
to do with the fecundity of mares. It has also been 
noted that corn should be fed to a brood mare sparingly, 
or not at all would be better. The food for a brood mare 
should be slightly laxative, as constipation should never 
be found in the same barn with successful breeding. 

Work in the Harness has much to do with a mare 
in the ■ production of foals. I am of the opinion that 
a mare could be worked to advantage as a breeder, 
but she never has been, and most likely never will be. 
This was shown conclusively in chapter VI. It matters 
not what the occupation of the mare may be, in every 
line of investigation, the mares not worked produced 
the most foals. Occupation has much to do, that is the 
kind of labor. Slow farm work gave better results than 
any other occupation. 

Among the Congenital Causes of Barrenness is that 
of rudimentary or undeveloped genital organs. The 
uterus and ovaries are the most likely to be undeveloped. 
One frequently finds an uterus in fully developed mares 
not more than one tenth normal as to size; sometimes 
a little larger, yet far below normal. The same is true 



122 STUDIES IN HOESE BREEDING 

of the ovaries. Quite often they will be found very 
small, having the appearance of having suffered from 
atrophy, but as this condition is sometimes found in 
young fillies only two or three years of age, one can 
hardly take that view of it. But after all is said of 
such conditions, the fact remains that such mares do not 
breed. Such mares always appear masculine in char- 
acter, and there is no way of making producers of them. 

Another condition of the ovaries frequently met with, 
is that of abscess formation or cystic degeneration. This 
condition always results in a barren mare. This is more 
easily diagnosed than that of atrophy or rudimentary 
ovaries. Since the cystic condition enlarges the OYary 
to two or three times its normal size, which can easily 
be determined by way of the rectum. Only a little 
further back, we find another condition, which is a fre- 
quent cause of barrenness. In the middle narrow portion 
of the fallopian tube, a tumurous growth is sometimes 
found, completely closing the tube. This I believe to be 
caused by ova of rmusual size stopping there, and which 
the system of the mare seems incapable of absorbing. 
This must necessarily result in barrenness. 

Tumors are frequently found within the uterine cavity. 
They are of two kinds, fibroid and cancerous. Conception 
will never take place if cancer is present. The fibroid 
tumors do not always result in barrenness. It is only 
in cases of large tumors that mares fail to breed. These 
tumors are seldom found in the case of young or virgin 
mares. They usually begin their growth as a result 
of laceration or of a portion of the placenta having 
failed to be expelled. 

Malposition of the Cervix often prevents the sperma- 



BAEKENNESS AND STERILITY 123 

tozoa from entering the uterus. The cervix or neck 
of the uterus will sometimes be found bent upwards or 
to one side. Then sometimes the muscles whose function 
it is to contract and dilate the cervix, contract it so 
tightly that it must be opened by the hand before sper- 
matozoa can enter. These conditions are barriers to 
natural service only, as the capsule method of breeding 
finds no difificulrty in settling mares of this kind. 

Unnatural secretions, both acid and alkali are a source 
of much trouble to breeders. The acid condition is the 
more frequently met with. There are corrections for 
this condition, and they will be taken up later. 

Catarrhal conditions are the cause of more trouble 
than all other conditions combined. This is the strong- 
est argument that can be made against working brood 
mares, since this condition is never found in mares that 
do not work. Mares will be worked in the field or driven 
upon the road until warm, and then made to stand until 
chilled, when congestion and a general catarrhal condi- 
tion follows. A few mares showing this condition will 
occasionally breed but only occasionally, while the great- 
er number will not breed at all. This is but an inflam- 
matory condition of the mucus membranes. With such 
a condition present, the foetus can not become attached 
to it. 

Bacteria is another source of trouble in producing 
■barren conditions. I have often found them in barren 
mares that otherwise appeared normal. 

The one cause of barrenness in mares that has been 
the most overlooked, is that of a proper balance between 
the positive and negative forces of sex. A very positive 
mare will hardly ever conceive when mated with a stal- 



124 STUDIES IN HORSE RREEDING 

lion positive and mascnline to a high degree. This same 
mare mated with a passive stallion, may conceive at 
once. In like manner a very negative and feminine 
mare rarely conceives when mated with a stallion of 
the same magnetic temperament, but will conceive at 
once when mated with a positive stallion. When every- 
thing else fails to settle a mare, try a change of semen. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



THE CAPSULE METHOD OF BREEDING. 

There Are Three Essentials to success in the pro- 
duction of foals. These in the order of their import- 
ance are fecund mares; virile stallions or jacks, and the 
uniting of these in a normal manner. So far as this 
subject is concerned, normality will mean anything not 
destructive of life in any of its forms, with which we 
have to deal. 

The Impregnation of Mares can not be expected un- 
less we have spermatozoa of a high vitality with which 
to do the work. The need of this has been shown in 
nearly every chapter of this work. Nor should we begin 
our work of breeding mares by the capsule method, 
until we 'know the stallion or jack that is to furnish 
these spermatozoa has been tested and found in breeding 
condition. One has no right to expect a mare to pro- 
duce a foal, just because a capsule filled with some fluid 
of unknown quality has been inserted into her uterus. 
A stallion that is not a breeder by natural service, will 
not prove a breeder by capsule service. So far as the 
stallion is concerned, the only advantage the capsule 
offers, is in the fact that every service is a complete 
service, while the stallion makes only about sixty per 
cent of complete services. In the case of 1196 mares bred 



126 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

by natural service, 19 different stallions being used, and 
the mares examined immediately after the service, 715 
were found with no semen whatever in the vaginal cavity, 
while in the case of 481 of them, the semen, or a part 
at least, was deposited in the vagina. Here we have an 
average basis upon which to work. Some stallions make 
more complete services than others. Yet if we take all 
stallions into consideration, we will have only about 
sixty per cent of complete services. In equine copula- 
tion, Nature intended the semen to be deposited in the 
uterus of the mare. These forty per cent of incomplete 
services are the result of the stallion being too long in 
the penis J leaving the mare too quickly, or some mal- 
position of the cervix. This gives the capsule method a 
great advantage over the natural service in the way of 
a better service. From the viewpoint of using the stallion 
it has another advantage and a very important one. In 
breeding small or crippled mares, there is no injury of 
danger to such mares. 

Mares That Are Barren must not be expected to 
produce foals because of a capsule service. There are 
many mares that will not settle when bred by the natural 
method, that settle at once when bred with a capsule. 
Most of these mares will be found to be those with some 
malformation of the neck of the uterus. All such mares 
breed readily when served by the capsule method. 
Another advantage the capsule service has over the nat- 
ural service, is the one of mare owners always being 
able to secure a service. It is disappointing, to say the 
least, for the owner of a mare to go eight or ten miles 
with his mare, only to find that service has already been 
made. In such cases, a mare owner has no choice but 



THE CAPSULE METHOD OJ? BREEDING 127 

to remain over night, or return home without the serv- 
ice. When the capsule method is practiced, the stallion 
can be billed to make his daily service at a stated hour. 
In this event, it matters not whether one, three or ten 
mares are on hand to be bred, they can all be served with 
one service of the stallion. During the season of 1908, 
I bred eleven mares with one service of a stallion, and 
ten of them produced live foals with no further service. 
The advantage' of most value to the breeder in the use 
of the capsule method is in being able to breed mares 
when not in season. Mares bred out of heat settle more 
readily than when bred in heat. In a record covering 
several years, I have obtained nine per cent more foals 
from mares bred out of heat than from those bred when 
in heat. This makes it both convenient and profitable. 
Most mares do not take kindly to being served by the 
stallion, when not in heat, yet are easily served by the 
capsule method. 

The Breeding Condition of the mare is the first thing 
to learn when mares are brought to you to be bred. With 
reference to this, the most essential thing is her age. 
The folloAving table is for a period of twenty-eight years. 
The stallions used were all pure-bred stallions. Some of 
the mares were bred several times. The average per 
cent of foals resulting is given in the nearest whole num- 
ber. This has reference to live foals only. The age given 
was that of the mares at the time they were bred. 



No. of 


Age of 


No. of 


Per can t 


Mares 


Mare 


Foals 


of Foals 


103 


2 


30 


29 


127 


3 


57 


45 


301 


4 


121 


40 



1-iS STUDIES IX lIOIiSK BREKDING 



No. of 


Age of 


No. of 


Per cent 


Mares 


Mare 


Foals 


of Foals 


413 


5 


215 


52 


627 


6 


401 


64 


873 


7 


637 


73 


941 


8 


753 


80 


1123 


9 


921 


82 


1064 


10 


809 


76 


979 


11 


656 


67 


819 


12 


499 


61 


731 


13 


384 


52 


614 


14 


302 


49 


591 


15 


169 


28 


421 


16 


101 


23 


379 


17 


64 


16 


272 


18 


43 


15 


201 


19 


25 


12 


122 


20 


14 


11 


97 


over 20 


9 


9 



This table shows that it does not pay the owner of a 
stallion to breed mares after they are fourteen years of 
age, unless the fee is paid at the time of service. A 
little better than 90 per cent of these old mares produc- 
ing foals, were those with foal at foot. As long as one 
keeps an old mare breeding and in reasonably good phvs- 
ical condition, she is likely to continue a breeder. If shp 
is not bred for a year or two she rarely breeds again. 

The poor showing made by the two year old fillies is 
only because of poor feeding and poor development. 
Well fed and reasonably well developed fillies of this 
age breed as readily as mares of any age, while fillies 
that have not been well fed, do not mature an ovam of 
sufficient vitality to be capable of fertilization. In my 
experiments with artificial conception, I was never able 
to bring about conception with the ovum of an unde- 



THE CAPSULE METHOD OF BREEDING 129 

veloped filly but two years old, while an ovum from a 
filly of the same age, but well developed would always 
become fertilized. 

The three and four year old mares make a poor show- 
ing because of trouble at this age with their teeth. Den- 
tition at this time causes a somewhat congested condi- 
tion, which is antagonistic to breeding. Even the five 
year old mares do not make as good a showing as those 
of more mature years. This table teaches us that by 
far the largest part of the foals are produced by mares 
from seven to eleven years of age. The nine year old 
mares leading them all, while those eight years of age 
are a close second. The mares for the ages of seven to 
eleven years inclusive, averaged better than 75 per cent, 
while for the entire number, it was only 57 per cent. 
The most valuable information which this table con- 
tains is in showing how rapidly one can lower his per 
cent of foals, by breeding mares of doubtful fecundity. 
This necessarily means a shrinking of profits to the 
stallion owner. 

The Heat Period (Oestrum) is the next thing to be 
considered in capsule breeding. The most difficult things 
one has to overcome in breeding, are the superstitions 
of our early ancestors. Because their forefathers held 
to certain foolish beliefs, is proof conclusive to the 
minds of some men that they should hold to the same 
beliefs. That any one could be found believing a mare 
came in heat every nine days is difficult of belief, yet 
there are thousands of such men here in the United 
States who really believe such things. Then there are 
others who believe mares come in heat every fifteen days, 
and others again Avho believe it is eighteen davs. If a 



130 >?TUDIES IN HOESE I3KEEDING 

mare was bred upon the last day of one heat period and 
did not conceive, she would be in heat again fifteen 
days later, but this has nothing to do with the heat 
period, for this same mare would have been found in 
heat three weeks from the date of last service. The 
only way to determine the frequency of heat periods is 
to try them daily for two or three months, keeping a 
record of both the frequency and duration of such 
periods. In many such records which I have kept, I 
have found the heat period to be twenty-one days from 
the beginning of one period to the beginning of the fol- 
lowing one. In all of the several thousand mares I have 
bred, I have always had them returned for trial twenty- 
one days after breeding them. There are a few irreg- 
ular mares, some of them going thirty days or even 
longer between such periods, while others seem to be in 
heat nearly all the time. 

The Duration of the Heat Period in mares is from 
four to nine days in the case of all normal mares. About 
85 per cent go from five to seven days. We learned in 
Chapter I that the ovum is not discharged until after 
the heat period is passed. Because of this, the later a 
mare is bred the more certain she will be of conceiving. 
If she could be bred about the second day after the heat 
period has passed, she would be almost certaim to con- 
ceive. It is safe to say that 75 per cent of all mares 
are bred too early in the heat period for best results. 
As soon as owners notice anything out of the ordinary 
with mares, they will rush them off to the stallion. This 
in many instances necessitates their returning them. It 
is not always convenient for the owner of the mare to 
take her to the stallion for service upon a certain day. 



THE CAPSULE METHOD OF BREEDING 131 

Yet he should aim to do so as late in her heat period 
as possible. It should be his purpose to work for foals 
when he has his mares bred. If he will co-operate with 
the stalliori owner in this direction, many more foals 
would be the result. 

The Temperaments and Habits of Mare Owners 
have much to do with the success of capsule or any other 
manner of breeding. Those men who are nervous, who 
are always in 'a hurry, or who can never get anything 
done soon enough to suit them, are men who produce 
but few foals. If a man wants foals, he must not be 
in a hurry, either before or immediately after breeding 
his mares. When I see men driving away with their 
mares after securing service for them, as if they had 
but a few minutes in which to reach their homes, I quite 
expect to do that work over again twenty-one days later. 
The men who own breeding mares, are men who are will- 
ing to devote a little time to the end that foals may be 
obtained. Such men are never in a hurry when they are 
having their mares bred. Nor do such men hurry their 
mares at any time of year. We have already learned 
that Nature has provided that no rushing of matters 
be done at mating time. We have learned that many 
visits to the mare are made by the stallion before they 
mate. We have further learned that mating is delayed 
until the heat period is well advanced. It will be well 
for all interested in the subject of foals to remember 
these things. Give the mare abundance of time to reach 
the stallion. Give her ample time after the service in 
reaching home, and do not breed her until the heat 
period is well advanced, or even past. 

How the Mare is Taken to the Stallion has something 



132 STUUIES IN llOKSE BREEDING 

to do regarding the number of foals resulting. In a 
record kept of farm mares, used only for work upon 
the farm, and taken to the stallion in various ways, 
gives us the following: 

No. of How Taken to No. of Per cent 

Mares Bred the Stallion Foals of Foals 

983 Driven double to wagon 631 64 

819 Driven double to buggy 477 58 

427 Led by halter 299 69 

166 Ridden 69 41 



2395 1476 61 

Again these mares were selected because of the uni- 
form condition under which they were kept when at 
home. They were all grade draft mares. The average 
age of each class was less than one year in difference. 
The class showing the largest number of mares was those 
driven in hitched double to farm wagon. These pro- 
duced 64 per cent of foals. The next largest number 
of mares were those driven double to buggy. These 
produced 58 per cent of foals. At first thought, one 
would be inclined to believe the buggy would be the 
easier and better hitch. But the tendency or desire 
to drive faster w^hen so hitched can not be overcome. It 
is the faster driving which produces the lower per cent 
of foals. Those led in produced 69 per cent of foals, the 
best showing made by any, while those brought in to 
be bred by riding them made a very poor showing, when 
the quality and condition of the mares are considered. 
It will be well for owners of stallions or jacks to advise 
their patrons to adopt any other plan of bringing in 
their mares. 

The Preliminary Work, preparing the way for cap- 



THE CAPSULE METHOD OF BEEEDING 133 

sale breeding is now about done. Tlie next step is to 
prepare the operator for his work. The first thing for 
him to think of, and the one last to be forgotten, is the 
necessity of cleanliness. Microbes in countless numbers 
are present in the air, and upon every thing we touch 
or handle. Many of these microbes will destroy the 
vitality of spermatozoa. The first thing the operator 
needs in preparation for this work is the proper cloth- 
ing. The clothing for this work is both simple and in- 
expensive. All he will need out of the ordinary is to 
have the sleeves removed from his undershirts, and to 
buy two white painters' suits, consisting of jacket and 
overalls. If the operator is right handed, have the 
right sleeve removed from the jackets. If left handed, 
the left sleeve may be removed. These suits should be 
worn only at the breeding hour, and should be kept 
scrupulously clean at all times. This can be done by 
frequently sending them to the laundry. When the 
breeding hour arrives, he should have removed his outer 
shirt, and be dressed in one of his white suits. 

The Mares Should be Examined as they arrive, to 
learn if they are in breeding condition. The first thing 
as already recorded in this chapter, which is likely to 
have an influence in this matter is her age. If she is 
fifteen years or more of age, and has no foal at foot, it 
will be well to send her home without service, unless 
it is mere activity you are looking for. So small a per 
cent of such mares produce foals, one can not afford to 
breed them unless the service fee is paid in advance. 
The next thing to take notice of is evidence of any dis- 
charge from the vulva. One can usually find evidence 
of this upon the under side of the tail, by the hairs 



134 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

being- stuck together. Such mares have leueorrhea, and 
should not be bred but sent to the veterinarian instead. 
Then look for evidence of congestion of the mucous mem- 
branes, or a catarrhal condition of the system. This 
can usually be told by the condition of the mucous mem- 
branes of the eyes. If they are inflamed, that is highly 
colored, the mare is not likely to breed. The normal 
color of the mucous membranes of the horse is a very pale 
rose color, or pale pink. If the color is red, congestion 
or inflammation is always present. This congestion may 
be of a temporary nature ; the result of a cold, shipping, 
fast driving or any one of many things. In such cases, 
it may soon pass away, but for all that, very few mares 
will breed while in such a condition. It is always well 
to have such mares wait awhile, to see if they will not 
be later, in a better condition. Mares three and four 
years of age always show some congestion present be- 
cause of trouble with their teeth, but we have already 
learned that they do not produce very many foals. 
If mares of such ages do not show too much congestion, 
I always breed them, as it is a help to the mare to have 
her in foal. If mares twelve years or more of age do 
not look right, I always send them away. If mares are 
discharging at the nostrils, I would not breed them. 
Only about 12 per cent of such mares regardless of age 
produce foals. One can not afford to breed them. When 
all mares have been examined and this need take but a 
very few minutes for ten or a dozen mares, have those 
found in condition be put in readiness for the service. 
Tills consists in placing them in the best possible posi- 
tion as regards security, yet never separating them from 
their mates, even though the mate is a gelding. When 



THE CAPS OLE METHOD OF BREEDING 135 

this is done, they are ready for sexual examination, 
which consists in an examination of the cervix for con- 
tractions, malpositions and lacerations. If the cervix is 
found contracted or closed, open with the forefinger care- 
fully and gently until a capsule can be inserted. If the 
finger can be inserted, it will readily take in a capsule. 
Do not make the mistake of opening the cervix to take 
in two or more fingers. The hardest condition in breed- 
ing to overcome' is the large open uterus. If one finger 
can be inserted, that is sufficient. Regarding malposi- 
tion, one has only to make it so a capsule can be inserted, 
when such mares breed as readily as any. If closed, 
open to admit one finger, otherwise do not interfere with 
its condition. Lacerations need the attention of a vet- 
erinarian. I have known those in very bad condition to 
be repaired, and the mares made breeders. Regarding 
lacerations, the one thing to always bear in mind is the 
condition an uterus must be in to seal itself so as to 
retain the foetus. If it be so lacerated, that the cervix 
can not contract and close or seal itself tightly, the mare 
is out of commission as a breeder. Lastly, we have the 
large, open or lax cervix, which almost every stallion 
owner has had every kind of trouble with. When we 
understand the cause of this trouble, the remedy sug- 
gests itself. This is a condition caused, first, because 
of the muscles running around the cervix, whose func- 
tion is to contract and expand or open the cervix, have 
become partially paralyzed or impaired to such an extent 
that they can not close it. An impaired or debilitated 
condition of the vital functions of the mare is usually 
present in such cases. One should in such cases give 
the mare rest, and good, easily digested foods. In con- 



136 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

neetion with this, inject into vagina, each other day, 
a quart of warm water (body temperature) into which 
has been dissolved one-half teaspoonful of sulphate of 
zinc. Do this for ten days, then let her go a week with- 
out the injections. Repeat this work until the cervix 
■closes, when she will be in readiness for breeding. This 
leads up to the tools for a capsule service. 

The Tools for Capsule Service consist of a pan for 
warm water, some arrangement for heating the same, 
thermometer, quart bowl, a good (luality of soap, towels, 
creoline, or other disinfectant, powdered slippery-elm 
bark and semen extractor. The pan should be made of 
galvanized iron or zinc. These metals will neither rust 
nor corrode. It should be four inches deep, six inches 
wide and thirty-six inches long. This will take in the 
extractor when the piston rod is drawn out full length. 
For heating the water, any device may be used, that is 
safe and capable of heating water quickly. I use a 
two-hole Perfection oil stove. Gasoline is unsafe about 
a barn. If the heater is to be used for breeding only, 
a one hole stove is large enough, which with a two 
gallon tea kettle will supply one with all the hot water 
needed. The best thermometer for registering the tem- 
perature of your water, is a floating thermometer, used 
by butter and cheese makers. Any thermometer of 
ordinary use will do, however, and these can be had as 
low as fifteen cents. The quart bowl is to be used to 
catch the semen in case of withdrawal. No particular 
kind of soap is necessary, yet the quality should be 
good. Soap has to be used so often during the breeding 
season, unless the quality is good, the skin of the arm 
is likely to be injured by its use. Towels should be 



THE CAPSULE METHOD OF BREEDING 137 

supplied liberally, and they must be kept clean, else 
they become the breeding place for myriads of microbes, 
which should always be avoided. Disinfectants must be 
used, and creolinc or other coal-tar preparations are as 
good as any and the cheapest by far. Before making 
examinations of mares, disinfect the arm thoroughly, 
then wash it off with freshly sterilized water immediately 
before inserting it into the mare. No disinfectant must 
be carried into a mare which is to be bred very soon, 
as this would destroy the life of spermatozoa as well as 
other forms of life. The need of disinfecting the hand 
and arm before examining or breeding mares by the cap- 
sule method, is to prevent germs being carried into the 
mare. Powdered slippery elm bark is to be used as 
a lubricant. The best way I have found to use it is 
to keep some in a large tin pepper box, such as cooks 
use about the kitchen range. By dipping the arm in 
water,, then dusting a litle of the powder upon the wet 
arm, one has the best lubricant known. The extractor 
is one patented by myself. I am not recommending it 
because of that fact, for the patent I sold outright and 
have no interest left in it, either direct or indirect. I 
recommend it only because it is the only instrument ever 
invented capable of extracting the semen from the uterus 
of, the mare. This instrument is known as the Carlson 
Semen Extractor, and is shown in figure 34. When it is 
known that 60 per cent of all services made with stal- 
lions, result in the semen being ejaculated or discharged 
directly into the uterus, shows one the necessity of hav- 
ing something that will extract the semen from the 
uterus, if we are to do very much in the way of capsule 
breeding. The secret of this extractor's success lies in 



138 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

its soft metallic point, which is bent downward after 
being inserted, thus enabling it to reach and take up 
the semen as no other instrument can. 

The Sterilization of all these tools by the use of 
boiling water is the next step in our work. Throw away 
all tools containing rubber, or other material which will 
not stand boiling water. One will get but very few 
foals by using such tools. Take every precaution in 




Figure 34. The Carlson semen extractor. A shows instru- 
ment as it is before inserting into the uterus. B shows the 
extractor with the point bent ready to take up the semen. 
Owned by the Kansas City Impregnator Co., corner 12th and 
Central Sts., Kansas City, Mo. 



thoroughly sterilizing the extractor. When this has been 
done, and you have selected the best mare from among 
those examined, with which to make the natural service, 
you are ready to begin the real work of breeding by the 
capsule method. Mention has already been made that 
the best mare for the natural service has reference to 
size, temperament and health. If possible, she should 
be some taller than the stallion. The best services are 
always secured by using mares slightly taller than the 



THE CAPSULE METHOD OF BEEEDING 139 

stallion. In temperament she should be quiet and level 
headed. Physically and sexually she should be in the 
best of health. Take no possible chance of spreading 
infection by using a mare of doubtful character as re~ 
gards disease. When the best mare has been selected, 
place her in the breeding chute shown in figure 26, and 
have her securely tied. This chute is not a necessity, 
but a great convenience. If she is to be bred without 
the chute, do not trust to some one holding her, but 
always have her securely tied. Many services have given 
only disappointment, because of relying upon some one 
who was to hold the mare but did not. When the mare 
has been securely tied, have the groom lead out the 
stallion. While he is doing this, the operator should 
take the extractor filled with warm water in his left hand 
and the bowl filled wath warm water in his right, taking 
a position at the side of the mare 's left quarter as soon 
as the . stallion has mounted and made a connection. 
When the stallion is about to dismount, empty the bowl 
and be prepared to catch any semen that may be with- 
drawn. If no semen is withdrawn, throw down the 
bowl, empty the extractor of its water, and as soon as the 
stallion is well out of the way, catch the point with the 
thumb and two first fingers of the right hand, and insert 
into vagina. Before leaving the operating room, the 
arm should first be lubricated with the slippery elm 
bark. If the semen was deposited in the vagina, it can 
be withdrawn into the extractor when the operator with 
his forefinger over the end of the point of the extractor, 
should at once start for the operating room, placing the 
extractor in the pan in which has been prepared the 
warm water at a temperature of 100 degrees F. Early 



140 STUDIKS IN HORSE BREEDING 

in the season when the weather is cold, the water can 
be prepared at 101 degrees, as it will cool the one degree 
by the time yon wish to use it. If no semen is found 
in the vagina, insert the point of the extractor into the 
neck of the uterus, preceded by the end of the forefinger 
at all times, as shown in figure 35. Insert as far as can 
be reached with the finger, then press downward, bend- 
ing the point with the forefinger over the top, and the 
thumb under the bottom. Pressing down firmly but 
gently will cause a depression to form in the bottom of 
the uterus which will cause the semen by its own gravity 
to occupy. With the point still held under the end of 
the forefinger, as shown in figure 35, so as not to draw 
in any part of the delicate membrane lining the uterus, 
begin to fill the cylinder of the extractor by drawing 
out on the piston rod with the left hand. When the 
cylinder is filled, straighten the point before drawing out 
of the mare and start for the operating room as before 
directed. Have your helper or assistant handle the 
extractor, which is to be kept under the water except 
when filling capsules. The finger should always be kept 
over the opening of the point, to exclude both air and 
water, when not filling a capsule. With a capsule in 
the left hand, which the operator should always keep 
dry, the assistant may fill not to exceed half full, when 
it may be capped and at once inserted into the uterus 
of a mare to be bred. The capped" end should always 
be inserted first. Have the owner of the mare hold up 
the left fore foot of his mare while inserting the capsule. 
This will avoid a possible kick. This operation can be 
repeated until all the mares are bred. 

An Operating Room can be made of an office room 



THE CAPSULE METHOD OF BREEDING 



141 




142 STUDIES IN HOKSE BREEDING 

or Stall. Have as little light as possible, and still be able 
to see. Have the operating room or stall kept in a 
cleanly condition. In handling the capsules after they 
are filled, so handle them as to exclude all the light pos- 
sible. If mares are returned for service more frequently 
than should be the case, and the stallion is known to be 
in vigorous condition, learn the cause. Something will 
be found wrong. When the trouble is discovered, it can 
easily be avoided in the future. If the stallion is right, 
and the mares are right, it is easy for the operator to 
be right. The early part of the season always gives 
poorest results. This is because every condition is 
against one at that time. The stallion is less virile, the 
mares are not in as good condition, and the weather is 
somewhat against one at that time. 

The Capsules can be ordered through any druggist. 
There is but one capsule made intended for this work. 
They were first manufactured by the Parke-Davis Com- 
pany of Detroit, Michigan, and are known as Number 
eleven. They are wholesale manufacturing druggists 
and sell this product to druggists only. These capsules 
should be kept in a clean place, the more sunlight in 
the room, the better. If kept very long, it is well to 
place them in a hot oven for two or three minutes occa- 
sionally. This will destroy any bacteria that may gather 
upon them. Remember if mares are bred while in heat, 
they should be returned for trial in twenty-one days. 
If bred when not in heat, they should not be returned 
until thirty days after service. In both cases, they 
should be retried weekly for three weeks if not in heat 
when first returned. 

When I produced my first capsule foal in 1881, I did 



THE CAPSULE METHOD OF BREEDING 143 

more for the horse breeding industry than I knew at 
that time. By making one good stallion do the work 
of several poor ones, it is doing more to improve the 
horses of the country than any other one agency. Figure 
36 is that of a foal produced with a capsule. 

In case of bad tempered or kicking mares, there is no 
way so quick and easy in handling them as strapping up 
the forefoot with a strap. When a strap of this kind 
is properly adjusted, it holds itself in place. Great care 
should be exercised in exciting mares as little as possible. 
Mares excited at time of breeding rarely conceive. This 
statement is based upon very extended experiments upon 
that one condition. Only seven mares produced foals 
out of 203 wild Mexican mares bred by the capsule 
method. These mares were roped and thrown in order 
to make breeding them possible. In another experiment, 
conducted solely for the sake of the experiment, 117 do- 
mestic draft bred mares were put in casting harness and 
lowered to the ground, then bred with capsule, and let 
up. These were handled very gently, yet only nine of 
them conceived. Later the 108 remiaining were bred by 
the capsule method in a standing position, semen from 
the same stallion being used, and 89 of them conceived. 
In both ways of breeding these draft mares, two spayed 
mares were used for all natural services. This should 
teach us that one should be very careful about exciting 
mares that are to be bred. It also teaches us why the 
rough, excitable owner of mares produces so few foals. 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE CARE OF THE FOAL. 

The proper care of the foal should begin with the 
foetus at conception. No good horse will ever be devel- 
oped out of a poorly nourished foetus. No time in the 
life of a horse can compare with its foetal existence, 
for the development of vital force. The half starved 
foetus means a horse of low vitality. If the stallion and 
mare were of good vitality, and in good health, at the 
time of conception, the foetus was ushered into being 
right. To keep up this foetal vitality, will require plenty 
of good, wholesome and nutritious food for the mare. 
She should have all she wants of a properly balanced 
ration, for she must eat and digest for two. I have 
never seen as good foals produced in the grain belt, as 
are produced further west. Where mares can have good 
western bunch grass during the summer and good western 
grown alfalfa during the winter, one gets the best foals 
the world ever produced. Here one , finds bone and 
muscle as no where else. If the alfalfa hay is grown 
without irrigation, so much the better. Another factor 
most helpful in this western production of foals is the 
pure air, water and abundance of sunshine. This should 
be remembered by those producing foals in the grain 
belt. Keep the mares, summer and winter in the open 



THE CAEIC OF THE FOAL 145 

ail- as niiicli as possible. The nearer we can follow that 
western ration, the better. Well cured clover hay and 
oats is as near to it as we will ever get. For draft mares 
doing no M^ork, two pounds of good clover hay and one- 
half pound of heavy oats (oats that will test 32 pounds 
or better) daily, to the hundred pounds of weight will 
make- a good ration. I have had better success with 
this ration here in the corn belt, than any other I have 
ever tried, alfalfa excepted. If mares are worked, more 
oats should be added. 

Working mares too hard while carrying and develop- 
ing their unborn foals is another way to produce a horse 
of loAV vitality. If a mare must work, she should not 
be hurried. Slow steady work does not injure a mare, 
even up to Avithin a few days of her foaling date. 

Parturition, and the three or four days following is 
a critical time, and a trying one in the life of a foal. 
A foal starting life in a feeble or abnormal condition 
can not be expected to develop into a horse of vitality. 
There are many cases where a little help in regulating 
the digestion of a foal would have resulted in developing 
a horse with a more vigorous constitution. As soon as 
a foal has been ushered into life, every precaution should 
be taken to prevent infection. The navel should be dis- 
infected the first thing done. Any of the coal tar prep- 
arations may be used in about a five per cent solution. 
Or a 1-5000 of one per cent solution of corrosive subli- 
mate is one of the best. Lysol is an excellent disinfect- 
ant, and may be used one teaspoonful to the pint of 
water. As to the umbilicus, never ligate or tie it in 
any manner. In doing so, one is most likely to lay the 
foundation for a case of pus absorption. Many prac- 



146 STUDIES IN HORSE DREEDINO 

tioners advise doing this, but it very often results in 
serious trouble. If ligated there is bound to be some 
blood, and perhaps urine, form there with no way of 
getting out, except by absorption. 

Under Natural Conditions, the Umbilicus is always 
torn away at the body. Under conditions of domestica- 
tion it will do this in at least nine cases out of ten. If 
it has to be cut, it should be about six inches from the 
body. In doing this, should the blood flow in a manner 
at all alarming, it can be ligated for a time with a cord 
that has first been well disinfected. In a few hours, the 
cord may be removed, when a thorough emptying and 
disinfecting of the remaining umbilicus should be made. 
To give this matter the closest attention may be the 
means of saving a foal. This is all the more necessary 
in the early season. Late in the spring and during the 
summer months, there is very little danger of infection. 

The Proper Nourishment of the foal is the next 
thing to interest the breeder. Whether the foal sucks. or 
has to be fed, it should be given the first milk of the 
mare. This first milk is known as colostrum, and has 
a purgative effect upon the foal, very much needed at 
this time. If the foal is reasonably strong, it will find 
the teat all right. If it should appear too weak to do 
this, the mare should be milked and the foal fed while 
the milk is warm. A¥ith one to hold the foal and another 
to do the feeding, this can be accomplished with a des- 
sert spoon better than anything else. One or two feed- 
ings will usually result in giving the foal sufficient 
strength to find its own food. During the first twelve 
hours of its life, it should be known that the foal has 
voided its urine, and that its bowels are working nor- 



THE CAKE OF THK FOAL 



147 




.Sr <ll in 

C& -^ "^ '-^ 
-d Ph ^ 



148 STUDIES IN IIOKSIC JiKKKDlNG 

mally. The bowels are more likely to give the greater 
trouble. If there is trouble in starting the feces, a little 
olive oil injected into the rectum will generally start 
everything moving all right. If this does not bring about 
the desired results, one should not stop until all the 
foetal matter has been removed from the bowels. This 
may take several hours, but there is no need of losing 
a foal from trouble of this nature. In obstinate cases 
an ounce of castor oil may be given, and the rectum well 
irrigated with a warm soap suds, using only pure castile 
soap for this purpose. The first symptoms of this trouble 
is in the foal standing with its back arched, its tail erect 
and later its head and ears will begin to droop. 

Dysentery at this time is not unknown although not 
a very frequent trouble. This is usually brought about 
by the condition of the mare. She may have been eating- 
food such as moldy hay or grain, that caused the trouble. 
It may be her milk is too rich and the flow too liberal 
for its delicate digestion. In such cases, I have had my 
best success by milking away much of the mare's milk, 
and giving the foal every two or three hours a teaspoonful 
of lime water in a few spoonfuls of milk. Also reduce 
the grain ration of the mare for a time. If it does not 
yield to this, I would suspect infection to be the- cause. 
In such cases a veterinarian should be called, as these 
cases can best be subdued by a serum treatment, which 
should not be undertaken by everyone. 

Feeding the mare sparingly of grain until the foa'' 
is eight or ten days old will give the best results. The 
digestive organs of a new born foal are about as delicate 
as are those of a new born babe, and feed forcing should 
never be attempted during the first few days of its 



THE CARE OF THE FOAL 140 

career. When the foal has made a nice start, the feed of 
the mare may be gradually increased. If good grass can 
be had at this time, by all means let both mare and foal 
have it. Good clean oats may be fed a foal when it has 
reached three or four Aveeks of age. Only a few at first, 
and when it has learned to eat and relish them nicely, it 
may safely have all it wants of them until weaning time, 
which should -take place when the foal is about five 
months old. 

Should the Mare Have No Milk when the foal is 
born, let it suck just the same. If the mare is suckled 
regularly every two hours or oftener, in most cases the 
milk flow will start before the third day has passed. In 
the meantime, the foal should be fed cow's milk. This 
should be continued until the mare furnishes the foal 
with all the nourishment it needs. The cow's milk should 
be prepared with great care lest you lose the foal. Into a 
pint fruit jar, which has previously been sterilized with 
boiling water, pour water to one-eighth fall, and add 
one teaspoonful of granulated sugar, and fill with new 
milk from a fresh cow if possible. This should be fed 
warm, at the body temperature, and the pint Avill be a 
sufficient quantity for one feed, but it should be fed as 
often as every two hours. It is quite a lot of work to 
raise a foal in this way, but I have done it, and they 
made good horses. A nipple over the spout of a teapot 
is the best thing to use for feeding a hand raised foal. 

Weaning the foal has already been mentioned in 
Chapter VI. This can be done as outlined there with 
no loss of growth. Simply dry the mare up by letting the 
foal suckle less often all the time. After the weaning 
process has passed, the foal should never want for either 



150 STUDIES IN HORSE BEEEDING 

pure water or wholesome food. No grain food alone 
will equal oats. If timothy or prairie hay is used for 
roughage, bran can be added to the oats, about half of 
each by measure. If alfalfa or good clover can be se- 
cured, the bran will not be needed. The bran made at 
small country mills is much better than that made at the 
large commercial mills. In the large mills, it is poorer 
because of taking everything out but the outer covering 
of the grain, and again because they have scouring ma- 
chinery for scouring the grain which small mills rarely 
have. In the large mills, everything which can be used 
for nothing else goes into the bran. 

An Automatic Feeder is the best way of feeding 
foals and weanlings. By this means the foals can have 
grain whenever they desire it, and yet at the same time, 
they can neither waste nor soil the feed. If the best 
possible weights are wanted at maturity, this is a good 
way to feed until maturity is reached. It is impossible to 
grow the big ton horses without plenty of good feed. 
Another advantage in the automatic feeder is that it 
compels the foal or horse to eat slowly. This results in 
a more thorough mastication, obviating those forms of 
indigestion which are caused by too rapid feeding. 

Exercise is even more important than feeding," if the 
best quality of horse is desired. There is no way known 
of developing good bone, and muscle and vital organs, 
except by exercise. The foals should have a large place 
in which to run and play, and let them run to their 
hearts' desire. I often hear people express themselves in 
a way to cause me to believe they might hurt themselves. 
They will hurt themselves more by being denied this 
privilege. In the summer time, all colts should be at 



THE CARE OF THE FOAL 151 

pasture. Here they can get both exercise and the best 
feed for all growing animals. 

The Feet of the foals and yearlings and two year 
olds as well should be kept in the best possible form. 
This will require trimming occasionally. If a foal is 
inclined to go over on one side with a foot, trim upon the 
opposite side only. Never cut away the frog from the 
foot of a foal or growing horse, and never pare down the 
heels. 

Handling the Foal properly during its early life, 
will add much to the value of the future horse. Gain its 
confidence early, and then never deceive the foal. It 
delights in being handled and fondled as much as an 
affectionate child. Its future is at stake, and it should 
be so handled at all times with a view to making it 
tnistworthy at maturity. A foal or horse will do almost 
anything for sugar, but sugar should be given as a re- 
ward for good conduct, rather than a ration. In very 
large quantities, sugar is not good for a growing horse. 



CHAPTER X. 



DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 

Only those diseases likely to be of interest to the 
breeder will be discussed in this chapter. If one has a 
thousand dollars or more invested in a stallion, he can 
illy aiford to let him die, if there is any way known of 
saving his life. It is because of this large investment 
in a single individual that makes the usual home treat- 
ment unprofitable in a very large per cent of cases. 
It is in diagnosing a case one finds the greatest dif- 
ficulty. Even in colic and other diseases of the di- 
gestive organs, one often meets with great difficulty 
in learning the real trouble. Because of this, if it is 
possible to obtain the services of a veterinarian, it will 
prove a good investment to do so. Sometimes a vet- 
erinarian can not be had, and under such circumstances 
one should do the best he can. In diagnosing the ail- 
ments of horses, one need expect but little of breeders, 
when it is remembered that this is the one great and 
most uncertain task of veterinarians. 

Colic in the horse occurs in various forms. Engorge- 
ment colic, obstruction colic, flatulent, or wind colic, 
spasmodic, or cramp colic, and worm colic are the most 
common forms. If a horse evinces abdominal pain, he 
is likely to be put down as suffering with colic, even 



DISEASES OF THE HORSE 153 

when the difficulty may be an mternal hernia, over- 
loading the stomach, or even a bladder or liver trouble. 
Inguinal hernia is likewise often mistaken for colic, 
hence one can see the absurdity of advising treatment 
at long range. If the horse is a valuable animal, no 
time should be lost in placing him in the care of a 
veterinarian. The more valuable the horse the greater 
the need of this. 

Engorgement Colic is caused by overloading the 
stomach with food. The horse may either be overfed, 
or else the stomach as a result of some cause may have 
failed to digest the food and pass it backward into the 
intestines. Greedy eaters are most predisposed to this 
disease. The one symptom likely to result in a correct 
diagnosis of this disease is attempts at vomiting. These 
movements are shown by labored breathing, upturned 
upper lip, contraction of the flank, active motion at the 
throat,, drawing in of the nose toward the breast, caus- 
ing high arching of the neck. Following retching, gas 
may escape from the mouth, and this may be followed 
by a sour froth and some stomach contents. The horse 
can not vomit except when the stomach is violently 
stretched. If the accumulation of food or gas is great 
enough to stretch the stomach so that vomiting is pos- 
sible, it may be great enough to rupture this organ. 
But after the stomach ruptures, vomiting is impossible. 
This condition of the stomach is generally made known 
to us, as soon as food is thrown out through the nos- 
trils. The death rate from this form of colic is higher 
than in the case of any other. 

Obstruction Colic usually is known as impaction of 
the large intestines. It maj^ be, however, the obstruc- 



154 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

tion of the digestive tract by accumulations of partly 
digested food, by foreign bodies, by displacements, by 
paralysis, or by abnormal growths. It is generally 
caused by overfeeding, or the feeding of old dry hay, 
or stalks, superinduced by a deficiency of the secretions 
of the intestinal tracts. The last named condition may 
be brought about by lack of water, or the use of too 
much strong medicine. The only treatment in this 
form of colic that can be effective is to produce move- 
ment of the bowels, so as to prevent inflammation of 
the same from arising. 

Flatulent, or Wind Colic is caused by any thing that 
may produce indigestion. The chief symptoms of flat- 
ulent colic is the distention of the bowels with gas. The 
symptoms of this disease are not so suddenly devel- 
oped nor so severe as those of cramp colic. At first the 
horse is noticed to be dull, paws some, and the ab- 
domen enlarges. The pains from the start are con- 
tinuous. If not soon relieved the symptoms are aggra- 
vated, and in addition there are noticed, difficult 
breathing, mucous membrane highly colored, profuse 
perspiration and trembling of the front legs. This 
form of colic is much more fatal than spasmodic colic. 
The treatment differs very materially from that of 
spasmodic colic. An injection, per rectum of two 
ounces turpentine in eight ounces of linseed oil may 
safely be given every thirty minutes to stimulate mo- 
tion of the bowels and favor the escape of wind. The 
removal of the gas from the bowels is the essential 
thing. Under the direction of a veterinarian the bow- 
els may be punctured with a small trocar or needle of 
a hypodermic syringe. This has often saved the life 



DISEASES OF THE HORSE 155 

of a horse, and can be done with no danger if made 
with a clean instrument. 

Spasmodic, or Cramp Colic is produced by the con- 
traction, or spasm, of a portion of the small intestines. 
Spasmodic colic is more frequently met with in high 
bred, than in large draft horses.* It is produced the same 
as external cramps are produced, by the unequal dis- 
tribution of the nervous supply. Drinking cold water 
while warm, or the sudden lowering of the tempera- 
ture of the body are the most frequent causes. There 
should be little trouble in diagnosing this form of colic 
from any other form, yet there frequently is. One 
should keep in mind that in spasmodic colic the at- 
tack is sudden ; the pain violent, with intervals of ease, 
the temperature and pulse normal during the intervals 
of ease, and that frequent attempts to urinate are al- 
ways made. The treatment should be something in the 
way of an antispasmodic, since the pain is dtie to 
spasm or cramp. 

Worm Colic is a symptom rather than a disease. In 
many eases of extreme worm infestation, there are 
colicky pains at times, such as switching of the tail, 
frequent passages of manure, and at times some slight 
straining. About every other man one meets has a 
"sure cure" for intestinal worms in horses, but if 
plenty of well cured alfalfa hay be given either horses 
or colts, no "cures" will be needed. 

Inguinal Hernia is frequently mistaken for colic. 
Within a few minutes after an accident of this kind 
occurs, the horse will become restless. He will jerk 
up the hind legs, kick at the belly, and point with his 
nose to the side. The symptoms will increase in se- 



156 STUDIKS IIVT nORSK RRKEDING 

verity until the horse begins to sweat and roll as in 
seme forms of colic. Ingninal hernia is bnt an incom- 
plete scrotal hernia, and may exist and eanse no signs 
of distress, or it may become strangulated and cans? 
the death of the animal. Inguinal hernia is seen 
mostly in stallions, occasionally in geldings bnt rarely 
in mares. 

Until about the ninth month of foetal life, the tes- 
ticles of the male occupy a position in the abdominal 
cavity, similar to that occupied by the ovaries of the 
female. At about the ninth month the testicles begin 
to descend, and finally become lodged in the sac called 
the scrotum. In making this change a canal is formed 
called the inguinal canal, which connects the scrotum 
below and the intestinal cavity above. This canal is 
permanently occupied by cords, arteries and canals of 
the genital organs. 

It will be seen then that there exists in the stallion 
and gelding an opening through which it is possible 
for the small intestines to pass into the scrotum. The 
passing of such intestines into or through this canal 
is inguinal hernia. If the intestines are crowded with 
sufficient force into this canal so that the circulation 
through the bowel is impeded, it is strangulated. 
Strangulated inguinal occurs much more frequently in 
the stallion than in the gelding. It is very serious and 
oftentimes a fatal accident. 

It is easy for anyone with a slight knowledge of the 
anatomy of the parts, to understand that the position 
a stallion assumes during coition favors inguinal her- 
nia. It will be observed that the testicle on the side of 
the hernia is kept tightly drawn upward in the in- 



DISEASICS OF THE IIORSK 157 

g'uinal region, and if the loop of the bowel has de- 
scended through the inguinal canal, it can be made 
out as quite an enlargement above the testicle. An 
examination made through the rectum is the only way 
to confirm the diagnosis, when any entrance of a gut 
into the canal can be felt from within. 

The treatment lies in its prompt reduction. If recog- 
nized early, this can be accomplished by careful trac- 
tion upon the hernial mass. Every care must be ex- 
ercised lest laceration occur, and the longer the time 
of the hernia, the greater the care to be exercised. 
This is one of those conditions where the amateur is 
likely to do no harm, even though he does no good, 
and no effort should be spared in reducing the hernia 
in the shortest time possible. If the owner of a stal- 
lion does not succeed in a very short time, or if in the 
beginning of such an accident he feels himself unable 
for the task, a veterinarian should be secured as early 
as possible. In such cases one should remember, that 
'the hernia must be reduced or the stallion will die. 

Orchitis is another disease with which stallions may 
become afflicted. When not caused by blows or bruises, 
orchitis is likely to be the result of congestion, pro- 
duced by excessive copulation, exciting the sexual de- 
sire without gratification, or heavy grain feeding with 
little exercise. By removing the cause, reducing the 
grain ration, increasing the exercise, the giving of 
some laxative such as two ounces of Glauber's salts 
daily in the food, and the bathing of the affected or- 
gans daily with hot water will usually restore the tes- 
ticles to a healthy condition. 

Hemorrhage of the Penis is generally caused by 



158 STUDIES IN HOKSE BREEDING 

blows, or the force used in entering small, constricted 
mares, coupled with too frequent service. The treat- 
ment may be rest from service for a few days, and 
the application of alum water to the end of the penis. 

Maladie du Coit is a germ disease, and is propagated 
by the act of copulation. It is not unlike syphilis in 
the human subject, and is highly contagious, affecting 
both stallions and mares. It has depopulated a few 
herds in the western states, and as there is no sat- 
isfactory treatment of the malady, it should be 
stamped out by castration or death. 

Anthrax is a germ disease, and until within very re- 
cent years the horse had always been considered im- 
mune. In the valleys of the upper Missouri river and 
some of its tributaries, it has made the horse breeding 
industry unprofitable. The disease is never present 
in the high lands of the Avest so far as the horse is 
concerned. The virus of diseased animals is dissem- 
inated in the excrement, which is often mixed with 
blood, and therefore with the microbes. The anthrax 
bacillus is shown in figure 37. They are straight cyl- 
indrical rods, usually associated in twos and threes, 
but sometimes in chains. The formation of spores does 
not usually take place until after the death of the 
animal. They multiply most rapidly under mean tem- 
peratures, yet when dry the spores will resist boiling 
water for some time. The bacilli are taken into the 
system with the herbage. 

The disease shows itself by a fever, with more or 
less stupor of the patient. The blood is much changed, 
sometimes visible hemorrhages occur. The intestinal 
lesions in the horse often give rise to more or less 



DISEASES OF THE HORSE 159 

violent symptoms of colic. This complication, con- 
sidered too exclusively, frequently interferes with the 
correct diagnosis of the essential disease. After death 
the blood is found to be de-oxygenated, viscid, the 
corpuscles altered, and the plasma colored red. The 
spleen is much enlarged. The intestines are some- 
times the seat of intense congestive hemorrhagic le- 
sions, and in -some cases the lymphatic glands of the 




Figures?. The bacillus of anthrax. (1000 diameters.) 

different regions are in the same condition, and also en- 
larged to twice or three times their normal size. Sim- 
ilar lesions may also be found in the kidneys. 

This is an unfortunate disease for the breeder, and 
it should be reported to the state veterinarian as soon 
as its presence is known. 



160 SlTDIliS IX IIOKSE IJKEEDING 

Tetanus (lockjaw) is a g-erm disease, the bacilli being 
shown in figure 38. Breeders are likely to be troubled 
Avith tetanus to quite an extent, the infection following 
pricks of nails or abrasions of the skin. The bacillus 
does not multiply in air containing oxj^gen, because 
of which only deep punctures are likely to beco'me in- 
fected. It is very resistant to heat, supporting the 






Figure 38. The bacillus of tetanus. (1000 diameters.) 

temperature of boiling water for some time. It is but 
little sensitive to the action of antiseptics. To be 
infectious the bacilli reciuire the cooperation of ».ther 
microbes. 

The disease is characterized by spasms affecting the 
muscles of the face, neck, body, and legs, and of all 
the muscles supplied by the cerebro-spinal nerves. The 



DISEASES OE THE HORSE 161 

spasms or muscular contractions are rigid and per- 
sistent. The first symptoms wMch attract the atten- 
tion of the owner, is difficulty in chewing or swallow- 
ing, of moving, and the protrusion over the inner part 
of the eye of the membrane commonly called the haw. 
The jaws are set or locked, wholly or in part, giving 
use to the name of lock jaw. If the attack is acute, 
the animal will die within a very few days. If of a 
milder form he may be saved. Tetanus antitoxin in- 
jected beneath the skin with a hypodermic syringe, 
will afford a very high degree of protection. The 
patient should be kept in a quiet place, away from all 
other animals and noises. The bowels should be kept 
active by the use of cathartics. Mares infected with 
tetanus poison, seldom breed after, even though a com- 
plete recovery is apparent. 

Influenza is another disease of the horse, and a very 
common one, that is of interest to the breeder. It is 
of especial interest to the breeder, because of its effect 
upon both stallions and brood mares. The latter if 
. pregnant are very apt to abort. Young stallions are 
frequently made sterile by a severe attack of influenza. 
It occurs in several forms, such as equine typhoid fever, 
pink eye and others. When the visible mucous mem- 
branes are the principle seat of the disease it is termed 
pink eye. 

It is a contagious and infectious fever, caused by a 
microbe shown in figure 39. Young horses and colts 
are more susceptible than mature horses, and one at- 
tack is generally self-protective. Very few horses eon- 
tiact the disease after their fifth year, and those kept 
in poorly ventilated stables experience a more severe 



162 STUDIES IN HORSK UREEDIiri 

attack than those accessible at all times to pure air. 
The disease is known by its alterations of the blood, 
great depression of the vital forces, stupor and fre- 
quent complications of the lungs, intestines and brain. 
Occasionally an apparent recovery is followed by a 
severe relapse, sometimes proving fatal. 

Good nursing is the best treatment. The animal 




Figure 39. The bacillus of Influenza. (1000 diameters.) 

should have access to an abundance of pure air and 
sunshine but the wind should never be permitted to 
blow directly upon the patient. The patient may be 
allowed any nourishing food relished. The bowels 
should be made to perform their function promptly 
and regularly. If inclined to be constipated, small 
doses of Glauber's salts mav be given. If the weather 



DISEASES OF THE HORSE 163 

is very cold the patient may be kept warm by blanket- 
ing. In most eases no serious trouble will be exper- 
ienced if the horse be handled so as net to take a cold. 
Strangles is also an infectious disease of the horse, 
colts being more predisposed than mature horses. It 
is caused by infection by contact with an infected 
animal or the discharges of an infected animal. The 

\ ^ /^^ 



I 

I 






Figure 40. The bacillus of strangles. (1000 diameters.) 

germ or bacillus is shown in figure 40. It appears as 
a fever, lasting for some time, with formation of pus 
in the air tubes and lungs, and frequently the formation 
of abscesses in various parts of the body, both near the 
surface and in the internal organs. It usually leaves 
the animal after convalescence in the best of condition. 
About the only treatment necessary is to keep the 



164 STUDIES ]X IIOESK UKKKI1KNG 

animal in dry (luarters and feed a reasonable quan- 
tity of good wholesome food. 

The swelling under the jaw should be watched and 
all blisters and irritating liniments should be kept 
away. These swellings may be bathed Avith hot water, 
and poultices may be applied. Foi; such purposes no 
better poultices can be used than flax seed, with a 
little charcoal and creolin added. As soon as there is 
any evidence of the formation of pus, the abscess should 
l)e opened. 

Pneumonia is another disease of interest to breeders, 
and it is only in the ease of very young foals that I 
shall make mention of it. A large number of foals 
coming early each spring, appear all right when foaled, 
but within two or three days are dead. These mostly 
die of pneumonia, usually contracted during the first 
hour of their life. In the early spring while the 
weather is chilly and the air damp, unless a blanket 
is thrown over a foal until it is dry, it is in serious 
danger of contracting a cold, which more likely than 
not will terminate in pneumonia. Lying upon cold or 
damp ground is also dangerous. 

The first thing to attract attention in cases such as 
this, will be a dullness and weakness of the foal. If 
at this stage of the disease the membranes of the eyes 
appear red, there is no help for its life, for it is sure 
to go. If the ear is placed at the side of the foal just 
behind the elbow, a rasping or rattling sound will be 
heard. After death, the autopsy will disclose a thick, 
dark blood, and the blackened lungs. All that can be 
done Avith such cases is to try and prevent them. One 



DISEASES OF THE HORSE 165 

thing that can be done is to have the foals come later. 
It has been shown in a previous chapter that the loss 
of foals is confined largely to the early ones. If one 
must have them come early, every means should be 
employed in an effort to keep them warm, and Avhere 
no wind can strike them until thev are well dried. 




Figure 41. The bacillus of navel infection. (1200 diame- 
ters.) 



Only think wliat it would mean, if a man was to take 
a hot batli at a temperature of one hundred degrees, 
and immediately step into a room without clothing 
where the temperature was as low as fifty degrees. 
That is what the young foal does in many instances, 
and resulting in the loss of many. 



166 STUDIES IN HOKSE BKEEDING 

The Navel Infection of Foals is another disease re- 
sulting in much loss to breeders. This also, is a 
trouble of early foals. It is a true germ disease the 
bacillus being shown in figure 41. This bacillus can 
not be propagated without oxygen, hence is always 
found near the surface of the ground. Nor will it mul- 
tiply at a high temperature, which accounts for its 
presence in the early spring. Wet situations are fa- 
vorable to their development. Prevention is the best 
treatment, and consists of absolute cleanliness. Not 
only a clean stall should be given it in which to be 
born, but clean hands in handling it while wet, and the 
use of some good disinfectant two or three times daily 
upon the navel until it has dried and fallen off. Cre- 
olin, or any of the other coal-tar preparations are as 
good as any, and these can generally be found in every 
barn, and a five per cent solution can be used for this 
purpose. 

Should the foal become infected, place him in the 
hands of a veterinarian as early as possible. There 
is but one satisfactory treatment, and it consists of 
a serum treatment, which should be used by a veter- 
inarian only. The symptoms are lameness from swollen 
joints, and the lameness will pass from one extremity 
to another in quite rapid succession. Foals dropped 
upon grass which is daily exposed to the sun are al- 
ways immune. 

Leucorrhea is a disease very discouraging to a breeder. 
There are but two primary causes, a want of proper 
nourishment, and congestion of the genital tract. The 
latter is often found in a catarrhal condition of the 
mare, a condition where some inflammation of all mu- 



DISEASES OF THE HORSE 167 

cc-us membranes is present. There is more or less dis- 
cliarge, and of a nature all the way from a thin 
whitish and slimy substance, to a thick yellowish dis- 
charge. The hair on the underside of the tail is some- 
what glued together. Mares in this condition should 
never be bred, as the disease is infectious, and nothing 
should be done to spread the infection. Only two or 




/ 



Figure 42. Germ frequently found in barren mares. (1200 
diameters.) 



three per cent of such mares will breed, and only 
when the semen is introduced directly into the uterus. 
There are thousands of mares in the country that do 
not show the usual discharge by which leucorrhea is 
diagnosed, and yet do show a catarrhal condition, and 
they will not breed. These mares develop leucorrhea 



168 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

later if not given treatment before they reach that 
stage. In the treatment of this disease I wish to call 
the attention of veterinarians to the fact, that while 
the disease itself may yield as quickly to the perman- 
ganate of potash treatment as any other, yet the fact 
remains that mares do not breed, as a rule, after that 
treatment. I have been confronted with the problem 
of barren mares, where the condition of barrenness was 
the result of leucorrhea in some of its many forms, for 
more than thirty j^ears. It was not because of any de- 
sire to do it, but success in breeding made the solution of 
this problem an actual necessity. Mares with this dis- 
ease, but of breeding age, are now giving me very 
little trouble. It takes much labor and some money to 
put such mares in condition, but practically every one 
of breeding age can be made a breeder. 

It will be noticed that most mares in this condition, 
and I will include all mares of a catarrhal nature, are 
more or less debilitated. I look well to this first, and 
usually give a tonic twice daily in the feed, of ten 
grains sulphate quinine, ten grains sulphate of iron, 
one-half dram gentian root. For local treatment irri- 
gate the vagina with one-half teaspoonful sulphate of 
zinc in a quart of warm water, and alternate each other 
day with a hot water douche at a temperature of 105 
degrees. As soon as the tonic has put the mare in 
good condition, and this may be two weeks or it 
may be two months, instead of the tonic give twice 
daily in water, from one to two drams of fluid extract 
of Mitchella Repens. I have been using this specific 
for barren mares, and those troubled with catarrh and 
leucorrhea for eleven years with uniformly good re- 



DISEASES OF THE HORSE 169 

suits. The sulphate of zinc is one of the best stimu- 
lants for mucous membranes we have. It is used by 
oculists in almost every preparation known for gran- 
ulated or inflamed lids. Mares breed readily after this, 
if there is no trouble but those indicated. The fluid ex- 
tract of Mitchella Repens I have never known to be used 
in treating horses, or mares, until used by myself. "With 
good hygiene, 'good nursing, and treatment as directed, 
I have made producers of many mares given up as bar-' 
ren by others. 

Abortion in mares is the last disease to be mentioned 
in this chapter. This disease, so costly to breeders, 
can be divided into those that are contagious or In- 
fectious and those that are accidental. Abortion is 
the expulsion of the impregnated ovum at any period- 
from the date of conception until the foal can survive 
out of the uterus. Accidental abortion may be brought 
about by reason of anything that very profoundly dis- 
turbs the system. Violent inflammations of any im- 
portant internal organ, acute indigestion, diarrhea, the 
presence of stone in the bladder, uterus or kidneys, 
may so disorder the uterus as to induce abortion. Ser- 
vice ^ by the stallion, blows on the abdomen, rapid 
driving or riding, over pulling on heavy loads, back- 
ing loads, rough handling or the use of the whip, ship- 
ping, jumping, slipping, falls, working in deep mud or 
snow are all well known causes of abortion. It will 
be noticed, however, that most abortions occur just 
alter cold rains and sudden changes of weather from 
warm to cold. About eighty per cent of all abortions 
occur at such times. Irritant medicines, tlie ergot of 
rye or other grasses, the smut of corn and other grain, 



170 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

and various fungi in musty hay are other causes. 
Frosted food, indigestible food, green food in a frozen 
state, and filthy, stagnant water are all dangerous to 
use for pregnant mares. In addition to all these one 
must not lose sight of the diseased condition of the 
foetus, or its membranes, entailed by a sire of low vi- 
tality, whether caused by too frequent service, or a 
want of proper exercise. 

The symptoms vary according as abortion is early or 
late in pregnancy. During the first two months, and 
by the largest number of abortions occur at this time, 
the mare maj^ abort without observable symptoms, and 
the fact is made known, only by her again coming in 
heat. If closely observed a small clot of blood may be 
found, in which the embryo will be revealed. If the 
occurrence is later in gestation, there is likely to be 
some general disturbance, when the small body of the 
foetus will be expelled, enveloped in its membranes. 
Abortions during the last stages of pregnancy are at- 
tended with greater constitutional disturbance, the 
process closely resembling normal parturition. There 
is the swelling of the vulva, with mucous or even 
bloody discharge, the abdomen droops, the flanks fall 
in, the udder fills, and the first pains of parturition 
begin. Abortion may be followed by the same acci- 
dents as normal parturition, such as malpresentations, 
flooding and retention of the placenta. 

Treatment should be preventive as much as possible, 
to the extent of avoiding all causes of constipation, 
diarrhea, indigestion, unnecessary medicines, painful 
operations, and abuses of all kinds. When abortion is 
threatened, the mare should be placed by herself and 



DISEASES OF THE HORSE 171 

given one-half ounce of fluid extract of black haw, 
three times daily. The best veterinarians now regard 
this as the most active preventive of abortion known. 
Carbolic acid is also employed in the proportion of one 
dram to a half pint of water. If the mare strains, 
leading her around for a time will sometimes stop it, 
but if it does not, this should be checked by some 
sedative. One ounce of laudanum in two ounces of 
water may be given every three hours until straining 
has ceased. 

If all measures fail and abortion proceeds, all that 
can be done is to see that both foetus and membranes 
are removed. After abortion, good care should be 
given the mare, in the way of exercise, pure air and 
wholesome food. No mare should be bred sooner 
than three months after an abortion, and some mares 
never conceive after one abortion. If a mare is bred 
and conceives, she should be treated for abortion be- 
fore the next abortion is imminent. This can be done 
best by giving the black haw as suggested, about one 
month earlier in the gestation than at which she 
aborted the preceding jear. 

Contagious Abortion is not likely to be present in 
mares as in other domestic animals. It is only in low, 
undrained localities that I have found trouble of this 
nature among mares. It never occurs in high altitudes, 
and very rarely in high land localities of lower levels. 
No disease is more difficult of diagnosis, since we find 
mares in the same herd manifesting many symptoms. 
In most cases the mare appears sluggish, listless, even 
stupid. Occasionally the opposite is indicated, the 
mare acting restless and nervous. A temperature of 



172 STUDIES IN HOKSE BREEDING 

one or two degrees above normal is the rule for a day 
or so before the foetus is expelled. The cause of the 
disease is a germ or bacillus shown in figure 43. 

These bacilli were present in all of seventeen cases 
of abortion in one herd. Not a mare in this herd es- 
caped. The microbes were found in the excrement of 
geldings and young mares running in this herd, yet 




Figure 43. Germ of contagious abortion in mares. (1000 
diameters.) 



all animals incapable of producing foals were normal 
in every way. They were found in the excrement and 
blood of all mares aborting. Every foetus expelled 
was found to contain them in all parts. 

Blood serum cultures were injected into pregnant 
sows and cats with no evil results, but a five year old 



DISEASES OF THE HORSE I73 

in-foal mare inoculated with pure cultures aborted 
eleven days later. I found that the cultures multiplied 
most rapidly at a temperature of forty to fifty degrees 
F. This will account for the prevalence of the disease 
late in the autumn. 

Since these germs are found only in low lands, it 
can not well be said they are associated with filthy 
conditions and surroundings. .Mares running in low 
pastures, but 'having no access to yards of any kind, 
or to filthy places are as likely to contract the trouble, 
as those having access to filthy yards and stables. 

The disease is highly infectious, as is evidenced by 
every mare in a herd aborting, and the stallion is quite 
likely to be the source of infection. No stallion should 
ever be mated with a mare known to have aborted. 
Such mares should be bred by the capsule method. 
Mares will carry the infection from year to year and 
for many years. Because of this mares aborting from 
this cause should be thoroughly disinfected before be- 
ing rebred. Every foetus of this character should be 
destroyed by burning, and mares aborting should be 
removed from all other in-foal mares. 



CHAPTER XI. 



THE BREEDS. 

The history of the several breeds of horses has been 
written by men well qualified to discuss that subject 
from every viewpoint. The agricultural and live stock 
press of the country has at many times reviewed these 
works, bringing out the more essential features in such 
a manner that the public generally, has a very fair 
knowledge of this subject. For business reasons, the 
press above referred to, has been silent, concerning a 
few of the things, which the breeders of the country 
have been wanting to know. Because of this delin- 
quency upon the part of our live stock press, I will 
give a brief description of the chief characteristics of 
the more important breeds. This will be done only from 
the viewpoint of the breeder. No attempt will be made 
to write or regard it in any manner as a history. To 
do this in a manner worthy of the subject, would re- 
quire the space of a large volume. Only the briefest 
mention of the breeds from the viewpoint of today will 
be made. 

The first division of the horse into breeds or classes, 
is into the draft horse, and those to do the lighter and 
more speedy work of man. Into the horse of great 
motive power, and those of greater action. Of the 



THE Breeds 



175 




176 STUIHES IN IIORSK HREKDING 

former class we now have five breeds, Belgian, Clydes- 
dale, Percheron, Shire, and Suffolk. For the purpose 
of this chapter the latter class can be subdivided into 
four subclasses, the heavy harness or park horse, fur- 
nished by the Hackney and Coach breeds; the light 
harness horse of which the Standard and modern Mor- 
gan are best representatives; the five-gaited saddle 
horse and the Thoroughbred or running horse. The 
latter is the basis of all good blood in all the light 
classes. 

Where Draft Horses Are Grown. To speak intelli- 
geutly, or to have a correct understanding of the mer- 
its of a breed of horses, one must know something of 
the country in Avhiclr they were grown. "We should 
alsjo know something of the people originating them. 
A horse that would be a good one in one part of the 
world might possess but little value in any other loca- 
tion. The conditions of soil, water and climate are 
mighty factors in the making of any breed of horses 
or even of man himself. Few people have ever given 
this thought the attention it merits. Those who are 
trying to grow large draft horses upon their impover- 
ished soils are doomed to disappointment. All the 
famous draft horses have had their origin upon the 
best of soils, soils rich in lime, potash and phosphor- 
us ; that is on soils rich in bone material. One finds 
them growing upon rich lands always, and that the 
size of the breed is determined by the capacity of the 
soil to grow an abundance of rich, nutritious food. 
Small horses can be grown almost anywhere, but the 
big drafter requires big feed, and this in turn rich 
soils to grow it. The future may modify this some- 



TIIK UKEKDS 



177 




178 STUDIES IN HOKC: BREEDING 

what, by taking the feed grown upon rich soils in one 
locality, and shipping to localities of less feed and 
thinner soils. The future home of the big horse, will 
not be one of altitude, but wholly one capable of pro- 
ducing the feed. Another factor entering into the dis- 
cussion of breeds, is that of differing opinions as to 
correct standards. Scarcely any two peoples, or even 
men, can be found agreeing upon a common standard. 
Even judges differ, and when they differ there is 
mighty little chance for ordinary breeders to agree. 
Men also have different motives for doing things, mon- 
ey having a greater influence upon the people of some 
nations that it has upon the acts of others. 

The Belgian. The breeders of the very small terri- 
tory making up the monarchy of Belgium, have been 
peculiarly situated for the growing of big horses, and 
yet the}'' have succeeded in growing a horse capable 
of carrying more weight, than any horse in the Avorld. 
Because of their small and cramped situation every- 
thing has been sacrificed to the moving of heavy loads 
at a minimum of cost. In muscular development he 
excels over all breeds. His compact form, with 
low flank line and great depth of body, are evidence 
of his being a good feeder and easy keeper. His con- 
stitution and digestion are good. Because of this, 
coupled with his great capacity for carrying his feed, 
makes him one of the very best shippers. He also 
adapts himself easily to change of climate. In fecund- 
ity and longevity the Belgians are about the average 
of the draft breeds. 

In the early development of the breed, little atten- 
tion was given to either conformation or soundness. 



THE BREEDS 



179 




180 STUDIES IN HORSE IJKEEDING 

Because of this early neglect, lie is yet not as pre- 
potent in the reproduction of the most desirable types 
as some of the other breeds. Although much improve- 
ment is noticed of late, he is still too short and straight 
in the pastern, and also too full in the hock. Many 
specimens are rather short in the neck, low in the back 
and short in the croup. Much has been said by his 
admirers in favor of his intelligence and docility, but 
I have found him neither as good in disposition nor 
as intelligent as some of the other breeds. His brain 
capacity is very small. This is indicated by the short- 
ness of head from eye to ear. The Belgian is found 
in all the colors, bay, roan and chestnut being the 
colors most frequently seen. 

The following circular will explain itself. I believe 
it to be the first attempt ever made by anyone to col- 
lect data to aid in adopting a standard for draft horses 
from the utility point of view. At the same time it 
shows the tendency of breeds to become unsound in 
certain directions, when put to hard work upon the 
streets of our cities. 

"Knowing your business calls for the use of a large 
number of horses, I feel you should be no less interested 
than the breeder in the best it is possible to produce. 
The fact has probably been forced upon you before 
now, that some horses have as much service in them as 
two or three others apparently as good. As an aid 
in producing better horses, will you kindly fill and re- 
turn to me the blank form beloAv. 

"How many horses have you in service at this time? 

"From the standpoint of dominant blood, to what 
breeds do they belong? Give number of each. 



THE BREEDS 



181 




m 


bCT:3 




rt 
'? 


c5 


H 


03 


>, 


^ 


^ 




;_, 




3 




03 



P 03 t> 



^7.z 



02 



m 



Id 



03 ^ 

=4-1 
>V O 

^ Sh 

oO 

03 
<Ll ?^ 

. Td 

^ +-> 



QJ O OJ 









182 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

"How man}'^ are unsound in front? with side-bone, 
ring bone, navicular lameness, shoulder or foot trou- 
ble? 

"In each case of unsoundness or lameness in front, 
give description of pasterns, as to length and angle. 

"How many are unsound behind, with hock, fetlock 
or pastern lameness? 

"Are any unsound or lame from any hip trouble? 

"In each case give the particular trouble and the 
breed to which the horse belongs." 

The above circular has for many years been mailed 
to those firms using large numbers of horses, ranging 
in size from 1,400 to 2,000 pounds. These firms were 
located all the way from Bangor, Maine, on the east, 
to Portland, Oregon, on the west. In all an ownership 
of 101,839 horses have been reported. This includes 
some Canadian owned horses. The following table 
shows how the breeds stand as to soundness. 

-p, J No. Horses No. Becoming Per Cent 

Reported Unsound of Unsound 

Belgian 1499 511 34 

Clydesdale . . . 21382 2992 14 

Percheron . . . 59160 26028 44 

Shire 19798 3371 17 

Totals 101839 32902 32 

In some instances horses were reported as Normans 
or French draft. These are included in the Percheron 
list. Of the 101,839 horses reported, 32,902 were re- 
ported as unsound. This makes a very bad showing, 
and emphasizes the need of better standards and better 
sires. The Belgians were reported in smaller numbers 
than any other breed. This in part is due to many 
grade Belgians passing as grade Percherons. A little 



THE BREEDS 



183 




>> o 
'^ to 



2 o 



ffl 


iH 


(In 


Cl> 






C 






X 




O) 






crt 








CO 


CO 



13 


■^ 






£« 


rt 




02 


a 


m 






m ^ 


<s 


H 


A 




H 









184 STUDIES IN HOKSE HREEDING 

less than one-third, 82 per cent, were reported iin- 
scnnd, nor was all horses unsound reported as such. 
I found it the rule in most barns to report as unsound 
only those incapacitated for full work. The Belgians 
were unsound chiefly, because of defective hocks and 
pasterns. 

The Clydesdale. In Scotland we find the home of 
the Clydesdale. In his early history he was very much 
like the Shire, both having a common origin. In the 
production of the modern Clydesdale, more science has 
been employed than in the production of any other 
draft horse. To such an extent is this true, that 
scientifically speaking, he is the world's best product 
in draft horses. When viewed from the standpoint of a 
perfectly and scientifically constructed machine, built 
to perform its work with the greatest ease and least 
friction, he has no equal. His sloping shoulder and 
elastic pastern, his short back but long underline, and 
his well nigh perfect hock, cause him to do his work 
with so little friction and concussion resulting, that 
his legs seldom go wrong. The world's best breeders 
regardless of their favorite breed, concede to the Clydes- 
dale the most perfect action at the walk. I have seen 
in the large cities of Scotland, geldings still fresh in 
their legs after working for ten or more years upon 
the streets. 

The sloping x^astern is occasionally being overdone, 
and to improve the quality, some of the ruggedness. 
of the early Clydesdales is being lost. With all his 
good qualities ; with his nearly perfect conformation, 
he is not generally popular in this country, and will not 
be unless the Scotch breeder will make a few conces- 



THE r.REEDS 



185 








^ OO +J .£3 


H o 


o ;;ca 05 


^- r; _, .ii! 


m 'V ^ .r-l 


^ ^ O ^• 


<l1 -tJ ■oD'O 


d Qj 


Sire, 
rino P 

and a 
e gait 


O - 5- 


• fl'^ =^ 


OS (3 oj a 


Oi <p ■<-' 




^ 0) 


_; ?-i +J 


O . — QJ 


Z ^ n^B 


ver, 
Horn 
n is 
his 


03 O =<-i 


-3 >^"-=^ ^ 


g TO =^ 




tallion, 
; 2d da 
This 
■s, and 
, Pa. 


"|^5§ 


'^ -i5 O o f:] 


P -"^ a o3 cti 


|o-Ji 


The Stam 
etosky, by 
by Almore 
many hig 
. G. Hynic 


Cu .,=1-1 Qi 



^ .Q .rt 0) o 



186 STUDIES IN HOr.SE liKEEDlKG 

sions to win the trade of the breeders of the United 
States. I say, concessions, for they are such when 
viewed from the angle of the Scotchman. 

The Clydesdale is too nervous, too unbalanced in 
the head to please most Americans. He is also cut 
up in the flank to such an extent that he is usually a 
poor feeder. Then his color is much against him in 
this country. The people of the middle and western 
states do not take kindly to any but a whole colored 
horse. Horses with white legs and faces, and occasion- 
ally white spots on the body can not be made popular 
in this country, but when all is said there is more 
promise for the Clydesdale of the future, than has 
been known in the past. The Clydesdale breeding as- 
sociations, both in this country and Scotland have much 
to be hopeful for. There is no suspicion of wrong doing 
by the associations or any member thereof, and there 
is a visible effort on the part of all interested to keep 
the Clydesdale up to a high standard of excellence. 
The geldings of this breed are becoming more popular 
every year, and they justly merit this popularity, for 
their wearing qualities are of the best. In size they 
are smaller than the Shire, and larger than the average 
of Percherons. They have plenty of bone of good qual- 
ity, with their legs well set under them. In fecundity 
they are about the average of the other draft breeds. 

The Percheroxi. The Percheron is found in all the 
colors known to draft horses, black and grey pre- 
dominating. He is foimd in this country in larger 
numbers than all other draft breeds combined, quite 
conclusive evidence of his popularity. In intelligence 
the Percheron has no equal among draft horses. He 



THE BBEEDS 187 



has also an abundance of nervous energy, making him 
an agreeable horse to work and handle. This has 
been the chief factor in gaining for him his great popu- 
larity in this country. The American has little time 
to waste upon dull or stupid horses, and he likes a 
horse capable of making the round trip in a day. 
In motion the Percheron appears best at the trot, some 
individuals of the breed showing considerable speed 
for horses s6 large. He is often found too short in 
the pastern and too straight in the shoulder to appear 
well at the walk, and some have a way of going too 
wide behind, to move with greatest ease and without 
friction. They are about the average of the other 
breeds in fecundity, and perhaps slightly longer lived 
than some others. Their smooth legs are generally 
found free of those sores, such as trouble those breeds 
with more hairy legs. More fancy geldings have been 
found with Percheron blood dominant than of any 
other. This is especially true when there is a dash 
of British blood present to increase the bone. 

The worst defect of the Percheron as a true drafter, 
is found in the large number of small individuals, and 
the tendency to small bone. This is even noticeable in 
many of the prize winning families. The want of more 
bone causes many of them to quickly become unsound 
in their hocks and fetlocks when made to do hard work. 
The table in this chapter upon that subject makes a 
sorry showing for the Percheron. Although many of 
them were yet young, out of 59,160 Percheron work 
horses, 44 per cent were already unsound. It is im- 
possible to build a horse of 1800 uounds upon legs 
intended for a horse to weigh only 1200 pounds. Upon 



188 STUDIES IN HORSE nREEDINC. 

this point the breeders of Percherons in this country 
have need to take notice, lest they be compelled to 
go outside the breed in the near future for new blood 
with which to build up a breed of real draft horses. 

This condition of affairs has been brought about by 
what might well be called the politics of the Percheron 
industry. In founding the Percheron stud book of 
France (the work of Americans) the only horse of 
draft size and conformation in that country (the pres- 
ent Boulanais) was denied the privileges of that regis- 
ter. Besides the few in control of the registers in this 
country have influenced the industry, and all the horse 
shows of any considerable importance to such an ex- 
tent, that little horses with small bone yet flashy ap- 
pearance have been placed above many individuals of 
real merit. It is no pleasant task to be compelled to 
record such matters, but when dealers and importers 
will price blue ribbon winners $500, below their other 
horses shown in the same class but winning no place, it 
is quite time for the true breeder to begin to do a 
little thinking upon his own account. I have spent 
much time in tracing high class geldings back from 
the market where they would sell from $350 to $500 
each, to the place where they had been sired. by stal- 
lions unknown beyond their immediate locality, but 
always stallions of great draft merit. One of the con- 
ditions which ought to cause our judges of draft horses 
to do a little careful observing and thinking is, no 
where in this country can any of the best known show 
stallions in the Percheron breed be found producers 
of high class ton geldings. The echo for more and 
more high class geldings of a ton to 2,200 pounds 



THK EKEEDS 189 

weight, is heard rolling over the continent from Boston 
to San Francisco. One may attend sale after sale and 
the Percheron mares offered, will for the most part run 
from 1,5Q0 to 1,700 pounds, and with scarcely enough 
bone for that weight. The importer is flooding the 
country with a small, light boned stallion, with not 
enough size in some instances to draAV an express wa- 
gon. With such a condition confronting us, where are 
these ton geldings to come from? There is but one an- 
swer, from the other breeds. The Percheron importer 
has never shown any interest in the American breeder, 
further than to relieve him of his surplus cash. He has 
yet to show any civic pride in the way of bettering, 
either the Percheron industry or the general welfare 
of his country. His supreme effort in gaining and keep- 
ing control of the industry, coupled with his remarkable 
greed for money, will yet be the means of putting the 
Percheron horse out of commission. When viewed from 
the standpoint of the drafter, little if any improvement 
has been made during the past twenty-five years. A 
larger per cent of good draft specimens were found 
among the early importations of the breed into thi- 
country, than are found among those coming now. 

Another force which is Avorking much injury to the 
Percheron industry in this country, is that of dishon- 
esty and graft. Go where one may throughout the 
breeding districts of this country, and he will hear the 
same mutterings. the same expressions of a desire to 
have a change for the better. All this noise and smoke 
is. not for nothing. It means more than most of us 
are willing to admit. Nor is all this dishonesty upon 
this side of the Atlantic. No where in all the Avorld 



190 



STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 







Xi 



Cm 



c« 




-1-1 




CO 




<u 








tJ 




^ 




cfl 




Cfl 




^3 




<u 




■«-> 








rt 




O 




v 




> 








U, 




< 


>. 




lis 


o 


^ 


U5 


c 


m 


h 

3 


1 


J3 


hr 


t3 


• pi 




tlH 


O 



THE BREEDS 191 

can dealers in breeding horses be found with a more 
undeveloped sense of honor, than in France. "With a 
large majority of these French dealers, a certificate of 
breeding means nothing but a convenience in making 
a sale. To them a pedigree is but a joke. Over there 
certificates of breeding are things to be juggled with, 
to please mens' fancies. Nivernais stallions are sent 
to this countrj^ with Percheron certificates. The cer- 
tificate of one -horse is sent with another. One of the 
prize winning mares at the 1909 shows has been sold to 
two Americans, but the mare is still in France. An- 
other winning third place at one of the leading shows 
of France has been sold to four Americans, and still 
the mare remains in France. At least Ler certificate 
was in the hands of her original owner on March 1, 
1910. This would be regarded as pretty good evidence 
that the mare is not far away. When all these things 
are known, it is enough to force a smile from an intel- 
ligent man, when he hears people talking about the 
breeding of an imported Percheron. 

These things are not written to help some other 
bj'eed, for it is well to know that the writer is breeding 
Percherons only. Nor is it written to injure any one 
or any industry. I. am many times each month asked 
concerning these things, besides receiving letters from 
all parts of the country weekly, containing questions 
upon this subject. I take it that the people have a 
right to know the truth. At considerable expense to 
myself I have gathered much evidence of value to 
breeders of this great breed, only a hint as it were, be- 
ing given in this chapter. When all has been said, the 
same forces will be found at work in France, that one 



192 



STUDIES liS' IIOHSK liKKEDIXG 



finds here. It is the dealer in both countries, rather 
than the breeder, that is doing this irregular work. 
There are a few breeding establishments in France pre- 
sided over bv men of the strictest integrity. There are 




Figure 51. A pair of Shelties. 

thousands of breeders in the United States, than whom 
no men living possess a higher or truer sense of honor 
and it is to these, rather than the dealer that the fn- 
ti;re of every breeding industry in this country must 
be entrusted. 

The Shire. In size and bone, actual measurement, the 
Shire is the largest of all breeds. He has done more 
than anv horse or breed of horses in this country, in 



TIIIC BREEDS 193 

the production of rugged horses with plenty of bone. 
Many of the high priced geldings produced in this 
country, although accredited to some of the other 
breeds, owe their great size and abundance of bone to 
the blood of this breed. When mated with small mares, 
especially mares of very small bone, he will produce 
a larger, more rugged foal than any other sire. How- 
ever, his bone is slightly coarser, and he has more hair 
upon the legs than any other breed, an objection from 
the view point of this country which can not be over- 
come. His disposition is good, yet somewhat head- 
strong or selfwilled. In the language of the English- 
man, "He has a good deal of powder in his e.ye." His 
walk is excellent, both as to speed and the way of go- 
ing. As a work horse he is among the best, always giv- 
ing evidence of his great power when put to the test. 

The Shire does not endure long shipping as well as 
some breeds, and rarely does as well in this country the 
first year after his arrival here from his native land, 
as in the years to follow. AVe learned in chapter VH, 
that the Shire is not as fecund as the other breeds. 
This I regard as the fault of the English breeder, rather 
than of the breed itself. The English man does not take 
kindly to masculinity in a stallion. This has caused 
him to select the more feminine type of Shires for his 
breeding stallions. Continuing this practice for many 
generations has resulted in fixing a type of stallions 
very deficient in masculinity. He is very deficient in 
muscle at the fore arm, gaskin, and upon the shoulder. 
The Shire stallion has not been worked in his native 
la:nd for many generations, and he is becoming more de- 
ficient in muscle every generation, The American bred' 



194 STUUIES IN HOKSIC HKIOKDING 

Shire is a better horse in respect of this, as he is given 
more pasture to grow in, besides being worlted more 
here than in England. The Shire bred in this country 
has much less hair upon the legs, than those imported. 
This is especiallji- true of those bred in the west at high 
altitudes. I know of one herd in Wyoming, all their 
ancestors being English bred, yet these horses are quite 
free of hair the second generation from imported stock. 
At the same time thej^ have increased in size and mus- 
cular development. The color of the Shire does not dif- 
fer from that of the Clydesdale, bay and brown, badly 
marked with white being the colors most frequently 
seen. 

The Suffolk. This breed is found in this country in 
smaller numbers than any other. His native land is 
Eastern England. His color is always a shade of chest- 
nut and in transmitting his color he is very prepotent. 
In longevity they have no equal, and in fecundity they 
excel over all the breeds. I have seen mares of this 
breed in England that were regular breeders, when 
well up into the twenties. I notice the same is true of 
them in this country. I doubt if a mare of this breed 
ever reaches an age when she is not a regular breeder. 
I have never known a stallion of this breed being sterile 
in the least degree. The Suffolk is the most docile of 
all the breeds, yet not as intelligent as he might be. A 
tendency to wildness or nervousness is never observed 
within the breed. In quality of bone they are slightly 
better than the other draft breeds. In conformation 
they have the straightest croup and best top line of all 
the draft breeds. They are good feeders, with a deep 
body, and endure shipping and hard work, the equal of 



THE BREEDS 195 

any horse in the world. A tendency to thickness or 
fullness of the hock is noticeable in some of them. He 
has the least hair upon the legs of any draft horse 
known, differing from the other British breeds in this 
respect. Many individuals of this breed are below the 
size now wanted for draft purposes. This is their worst 
defect as a true drafter. 

A Comparative test of bone of the five breeds of draft 
horses, in comparison with the bone of a thorough- 
bred stallion, one that had made good, both upon the 
r;ice track and in the stud, makes an interesting study. 
The bone of this stallion in fineness of texture would 
compare very favorably with ivory. Excepting one 
mare in the Suffolk class, the tests were made with the 
bones of stallions, and all were imported. The bone 
of this mare did not differ from that of the stallion of 
her breed. Only two animals were used in the Suf- 
folk class, while many were used in all the others, the 
averages being used in this table. The same sized 
horses were used, all weighing close to the ton mark, 
excepting the Suffolks which were slightly smaller. 
I found the same ratio existed in all the breeds between 
the pressure and gravity tests, so only comparative 
weights will be used here, that of the thoroughbred 
being given as one hundred, the basis of the test. 

A cubic inch of bone from the Belgians weighed 62.6 
per cent as much as that of the Thoroughbreds. The 
Clydesdales 61.2; the Percherons 63.3; the Shire 57.9 
and the Suffolks 68.7. The above table teaches us that 
in the quality of bone, but little difference is found 
between Belgian, Clydesdale, and Percheron, while the 
Shire is some below the others and the Suffolks consid- 



196 STUDIES IN llORSK ISKKICDING 

eiably above. The Suffolks had a sliyht advantage in 
the test, in hein«i' slightly smaller than the others. 

The distinguishing marks or traits of the several 
draft breeds is of interest to many. The greatest inter- 
est is shown in being able to always classify Belgians, 
Percherons and the two most nnmerons British breeds, 
Clydesdales and Shires. While the Belgians have a 
few minor characteristics not usually found in the other 
breeds, the thing by which he can always be known is 
the head. No other breed ever has a Belgian head. The 
shortness of liead and ear, the latter coming out of 
the side of the head, the shortness of space from eye to 
ear and want of fullness at this point, are all marks 
belonging to the Belgian only. If one Avill take a good 
look at figures 44, 64, and 65, he will see nothing if 
not Belgian character. 

The Percheron has much about him that can not be 
found in any other breed. In the first place he has a 
head that can not be found in any other draft breed. 
In the width between the eyes, and the distance from 
eye to ear one finds something truly remarkable. The 
space between the eyes and ears of the Percheron is 
always full and prominent. In other words he has a 
larger brain space or cavity than any other. The crest 
of the Percheron is unlike that of any other breed, in 
being better defined and more masculine. In the mus- 
cular development of shoulder, fore arm and gaskin, 
the Percheron is found at the other extreme, when com- 
pared with the Shire. The Percheron is always muscu- 
lar, while the Shire is deficient in muscle. In his ner- 
vous energy and way of going, the Percheron shows 
more blood than any other draft horse. The hair upon 
the legs will be discussed later. 



THE BREEDS 197 

The Shire and Clydesdale will for the purpose of this 
description be regarded as one breed. So far as breed 
character goes, the Shire is almost the opposite of the 
Percheron, and this subject is now being discussed with 
reference to stallions only. The Shire has little or no 
crest, many of the stallions having every appearance of 
a gelding, and that muscular development of shoulder, 
fore arm and gaskin already referred to is wanting. 
Herein lies 'the distinguishing difference between the 
Percheron and Shire. We are now assuming the color 
to be the same, for one can find bays with strip and 
four white pasterns in France. Regarding the hair 
upon the legs, it is not always safe to assume that every 
horse with hairy legs is of Shire origin. Many Perch- 
erons of the old Boulanais type wear as much hair upon 
the legs as many individuals in the Shire breed. As a 
rule the Percheron is quite free from long hair upon 
the legs, while the Shires are famous for this one thing. 
For all this, some of the best Percheron stallions ever 
brought to this country from France were as hairy at 
the legs as many Shires, and it is a well established fact 
that the best and heaviest geldings ever sired by Per- 
cheron stallions, were sired by these great big Percher- 
ons with much long hair upon the legs. Upon the 
other hand there are quite a few Shires coming to this 
country from England with very little hair upon the 
legs. This is not the type popular in England, yet 
they are there just the same. I emphasize this point, 
onl}^ because there are a few misinformed men who 
believe all Percherons have the legs of a Thoroughbred, 
while all horses wearing long hair at the legs must be 
of British origin. When we speak of draft horses, the 



198 STUDIES IX HORSK IJRKEDING 

best Percheron breeding establishments npon this con- 
tinent will invariabl}' be found with horses wearing 
long' hair at the legs, and the more hair one finds there, 
the more bone, the more substance and the more size 
will he also find in the horses there. So far as hair 
upon the legs is concerned, one should look a little 
higher up. If the fore arm and gaskin is deficient in 
muscle, I would feel safe in classing the horse as a 
Shire. However long the hair might be, if the stallion 
had a well defined crest, coupled with a good muscular 
development and the other Percheron characteristics, I 
would not hesitate to class him with that breed. There 
are others who are inclined to classify every horse with 
an arched nose, or great fullness below the eyes, with the 
British breeds. Again many Percherons are found with 
similar heads, and again one usually finds them among 
the stallions producing large horses. Such a head, 
when narrow between the eyes is likely to be a Shire, 
but when wide between the eyes it is more likely to be 
a Percheron. My own observations extending over 
many years, make it possible for me to sum up the 
whole matter in one sentence. The more a Percheron 
resembles a Shire, the more certain he will be of siring 
ton geldings. 

The heavy harness or park horse. This class is made 
up or filled so far as market requirements are con- 
cerned by the Hackney more than by all other breeds 
together. The ITackney is a native of England, and 
possesses more blood than any other horse of Europe 
used for harness purposes. The conformation of the 
Hackney is more nearly correct for high action than 
that of any other horse. The well nigh perfect flexing 



THE BREEDS 199 

of knee and hock of the best actors within this breed 
is a beautiful sight, yet he is nothing if not a rich man's 
horse. Bay, brown, chestnut and black are the princi- 
ple colors of this breed. 

The coach breeds, so-called, both French and Ger- 
man, are sometimes bred in this country for the pur- 
pose of supplying the demand for heavy harness horses. 
Few can show the action required for this purpose. 
These breeds were produced to be used for military 
purposes in their native countries, and have been in- 
troduced into this country as the result of the Ameri- 
can commercial spirit. I have spent both time and 
money investigating this subject but have yet to learn 
of a district in the United States that has been bene- 
fited by the Coach horse of either country. The French 
coach carries the more blood, and is the more uniform 
breeder. Most of the get of Coach stallions reach the 
markets of the country as some kind of a misfit, with- 
out the size and weight to perform the heavy work of 
the country, and with insufficient action for high class 
heavy harness horses. 

The light harness horse. This class comes principally 
from the Standard bred trotter, a breed of American 
origin. This horse is too well known to need more than 
a mention. Some excellent specimens are to be found 
within this breed for light harness driving, being both 
intelligent and speedy. It is the larger specimens of 
the breed that are used for this purpose. 

Recently the federal government has shown an inter- 
est in the light horse industry, and are aiding by a 
breeding experiment, blending the blood of the nearly 
extinct Morgan family with that of the better types 
of Standard blood. 



200 STUDIES IN HORSE BEEEDING 

The Five Gaited Horse. This horse is a product of the 
rough part of the southern states where the saddle 
horse was a necessity, and much intelligence has been 
used in his development. He is the result of crossing 
Standard bred pacing mares with Thoroughbred Stal- 
lions, and demonstrates what can be done by cross 
breeding when intelligently don 3. He is strictly an 
American product and he has come to stay. For the 
breeder v/ho has a fancy for a warm bred horse, and is 
capable of developing him to the highest limit, the Five 
Gaited horse offers a lucrative field. He will alwav3 be 
in demand in our own large cities, as well as in his na- 
tive southland. 

The Thoroughbred. This horse, the origin of all 
blood and speed, needs no mention in this work. His 
part in the world's work has been recorded in poetry 
and in fiction, as well as in history. 

The Shetland Pony. This is a member of the equine 
family worthy of brief mention, as few are more profit- 
able to breed than the Shetland. The demand in this 
country is now greater than the supply. The cost of 
producing a Shetland pony is but little more than for 
a large sheep. "Well broken, he sells readily for $100 
to $200 in all the large cities of this country. He is a 
native of the Shetland Islands, to the north of Scot- 
land. In earlier times he was used principally in coal 
mines and to some extent by fisherman along the coast. 
His food was always of the poorest and scantiest sup- 
ply. The climate was of the fiercest for either man or 
beast, being both cold and wet. He has survived these 
things and will live under every known condition of 
climate or food. In this country he meets a new eon- 



THE BREEDS 201 

dition, both as to his needs and his work. In a country 
where food is plenty he is always fat, while his only 
work in this country has been the companionship of 
children; 

Some trouble has been experienced in this country 
in breeding them. This is wholly the result of too much 
feed. They soon become too fat to breed well, iniless 
used more than is usually the practice. Most of the 
Shetlands brought to this country are bred in the north 
of Scotland. 



CHAPTER XII. 



JACKS AND JENNETS. 

The mule breeding industry of the United States has 
grown to be a very important busines3, in many parts 
of the country. This has made the breeding of good 
jacks a very lucrative industry. For the truly good 
ones, the demand is larger than the supply. The best 
mi;les produced in this country, are sired by Mammoth 
jacks, a breed of American origin. While ill the blood 
lines of the Mammoth jacks and jennets can be traced 
back to an European source, yet in their present state 
of perfection, they are strictly the product of American 
skill and intelligence. 

The Mammoth jack is the result of the blending of 
the blood of jacks from Malta, Catalonia and Majorca. 
The name is borrowed from imported Royal Mammoth, 
a jack regarded by the best breeders of this country, to 
bo the best specimen ever brought here from Europe. 

A continuous effort has been made, and a fairly 
united one, by all the breeders in fixing the color to 
black, with light shading around the nose and upon 
the under side of the body. At the present time only 
occasionally does one revert back to blue or other off 
color. 

In figure 52 can be seen a group of jennets and their 



JACKS AND JENNETS 



203 




Z o 



&H ^ 



204 STUDIES IN HORSE HREEDING 

jack eolts owned by W. II. Brown, of Calnmet Valley 
Stock Farm. Clarksville, j\Io. The one marked No. 1, 
is Queen of Scots, No. 529. She won first in yearling 
class at St. Louis Exposition in 1904. Also sweepstakes 
as best jennet any age at Missouri State Fair in 1909. 
P'annie Pitman No. 391, is marked with a 2. INIohawk 
Queen, No. 525, is marked with a 3. 

Figure 53 is that of the four-year-old Mammoth jack, 
Eagle, No. 3797, one of the truly good jacks of the 
country. This jack is owned by W. C. Martin, Pleasant 
Hill, Mo. Note the extreme vitality of this jack, as in- 
dicated by the large heart girth, as well as thickness of 
shoulders. 

Crossing the jennet with a stallion, produces a hinny. 
This cross is now a common one in many parts of the 
southwestern states. The hinny is so like the mule, 
that only a few men can tell the one from the other. 
They are usually small, being used in the coal mines 
and for light delivery work. 

The demand for mules combining size and constitu- 
tion is a growing one. Formerly the so-called quality 
nuile, was the one in greatest demand. This mule was 
rather tall for its size, with considerable energy and ac- 
tion, but rather deficient in constitution. It was the 
produce of a mare possessing much warm blood. At 
the present time quality means size, plenty of bone, 
large heart girth, with every evidence of good consti- 
tution, more than at an^'^ time in the past. Such a 
mule can be produced, only by the use of some draft 
blood in the mare. 



JACKS AND JENJS'ETS 



20.': 




Figure 53. The Mammoth iack. Eagle, No. 3797. Property 
of W. C. Martin, Pleasant Hill, Mo, 



CHAPTER XIII. 



CROSS BREEDING. 

During' the past two years, as many inquiries have 
reached me upon the subject of cross breeding as any 
other. Some are not very explicit as to what the}^ wish 
to know, but I take it that most of them are interested 
in crossing very small mares with large stallions. The 
consensus of opinion is adverse to this, but it is either 
based upon a Avant of experience, or else the experience 
was with coarse, unbalanced stallions, wanting in qual- 
ity. I mated a large number of small mares, weighing 
from 800 to 900 hundred pounds, for five consecutive 
seasons, with an imported Percheron stallion, weighing 
from 1950 to 2100 pounds, according to conditions of 
flesh. The result was a uniform lot of well balanced 
foals, maturing into marketable horses with an aver- 
age weight of 1350 pounds. There was not a badly pro- 
portioned horse in the lot. This stallion was evenly 
balanced and Avell proportioned, possessing quality in 
a high degree. The breeding was all done by the use 
of capsules. 

Mating Pcnies with Stallions. For the sake of the 
experiment I have mated Indian pony mares weighing 
only 535 and 515 pounds with the stallion above referred 
to, and the resulting foals were good. They developed 



CROSS BREEDrnO 207 

into 1100 pound horses, well balanced and well propor- 
tioned. 

Mating Small Mares With a Belgian Stallion. In the 
extreme western part of Nebraska, there is one ranch 
where a large number of 900 pound mares have been 
mated for five years with an imported Belgian stal- 
lion, weighing around 2200 pounds, the capsule system 
being employed in making the service. This spring two 
car loads of these horses (four years old) were shipped 
to Pennsylvania and sold at an average of $212.50 each. 
The average weight of these four year old colts when 
loaded, was 1430 pounds each, and every one a good 
one, well balanced and well proportioned. 

Coarse unbalanced Stallions do not mate well with 
any mare. A score of such crosses which have proved 
successful, when quality stallions are used, can be 
named for every one that has been a failure. It can 
be readily understood, that a stallion wanting in qual- 
ity, coarse and unbalanced, would not cross well with 
any mare, however large she may be. Even when such 
stallions are mated with large mares, if observed criti- 
cally, the foals will be found wanting in quality and 
balance, quite as much as those out of the small mares. 

The breeds differ in regard to such crosses. As re- 
gards the crossing of small mares with large stallions, 
it makes some difference about the breed to which the 
stallion belongs. The British breeds do not give as 
good results in violent crossing, as do the Belgian and 
Percheron stallions. I have frequently seen horses with 
large heads and legs, but bodies small, resulting from 
mating very small mares with stallions of British breed- 
ing. 



20S STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDIN:! 

Crossing the breeds or mixing the blooJ of pure bred 
horses is (jiiite another thing, and should never be un- 
dertaken by any but the most intelligent breeders. 
That this can be done advantageously, we already have 
proof. In crossing blood, it matters not so much about the 
breeds as it does the types. Mating animals of two 
breeds, but of the same general type, will give better 
results than mating two' animals of the same breed, but 
of widely different types. To put it in another way, 
mating two animals of two draft breeds will give better 
results than mating two animals, one a drafter, the 
other l)elonging to the harness breeds. 

The Saddle Horse is an illustration of this thought. 
It was produced by mating Standard mares with pac- 
ing gait, with Thoroughbred stallions. To begin with 
these breeds were of a similar type, and the cross re- 
sulted in a most pronounced improvement, for the pur- 
pose for which the cross bred product was intended. 
The gaits have been secured from the original mares 
from which the breed originated, while the symmetry, 
style of carriage and intelligence have been transmitted 
from the Thoroughbred. 

Recrossing' Breeds. The stallion shown in figure 54, 
is the result of a breeding experiment with draft blood. 
This experiment began with a grey imported Shire 
mare. She "was mated with a black imported Belgian 
stallion, resulting in a grey filly. When this filly was 
old enough she was mated with a grey imported Per- 
ch eron stallion, resulting in the stallion shown in figure 
54. It is claimed by most writers that sires produced 
by cross breeding will not prove prepotent breeders; 
that their foals will not be laniform as regards any 



(']!(»SS KliliKDING 



209 




Figure 54. A re-cross bred stallion, possessing tire blood 
of the Belgian, Percheron and Shire breeds. 



210 STUDIES IN HOKSE 15REEDING 

quality; color, size, or form. The stallion above re- 
ferred to is owned by a colony of Rnssians in South 
j>akota, and enjoys the distinction of having produced 
more geldings selling for three hundred dollars or 
more, than any stallion ever owned in that state. His 
get are remarkable for their uniformity of size, com- 
bined Avith quality, and 85 per cent of them are grey. 
The number of ton geldings sired by him, and out of 
mares weighing only 1500 to 1600 pounds, is simply re- 
markable. 

Here we have a re-cross bred stallion, that is, one the 
result of twice crossing, and possessing the blood of 
three draft breeds. The individuals composing his im- 
mediate ancestry, were quite uniform, although belong- 
ing to three breeds. A wider difference in type could 
be found within any one of the three breeds, which 
again calls out the statement, that it is not so much 
a matter of breed, as it is of type. 

The Percheron and Shire Cross. We have another 
illustration in the result of crossing breeds, in a stal- 
lion owned for eleven years at Randolph, Nebraska. 
This stallion was out of an imported Percheron mare, 
and sired by an imported Shire stallion, both dam and 
sire being good individuals, possessing great size, and 
the best draft conformation. The dam of this stallion 
was a dark grey in color, while the sire was a blue 
roan. More than 90 per cent of the get of this horse 
were blue roan or grey, and this one stallion made Ran- 
dolph the first primary market in the United States, 
in the production of high class geldings. The geldings 
sired by this stallion mature to 2200 pounds, and have 
sold in the open markets of this country up to five hun- 
dred dollars each. 



CRdSS BREEDING 211 

The Mares of this Cross are also Producers of High 
Class Foals. Nor has the good done the horse breeding 
industry at Randolph, by this stallion, ended in the pro- 
duction of these high class geldings. His mares are 
pro\ing the best producers of geldings ever owned in 
that district. It is a fact admitted by all breeders of 
pure bred draft horses, that no pure bred mares can be 
found in that district, which can equal as producers of 
quality, these grade mares sired by that cross bred stal- 
lion. 

Adhering to Type. These things are not written to 
encourage any one to embark in cross breeding horses, 
for not one in a thousand would succeed, if they un- 
dertook it. When we remember that all draft bred 
horses have a common origin, it is not very violent 
crossing when we cross any or all of them. The thing 
to guard against is in crossing types. It is because of 
this that so few succeed in breeding pure bred horses. 
Only a few men seem to understand that by using a 
stallion of one type for one cross, then one of distinct- 
ly another type for the succeeding cross, must neces- 
sarily result in failure, and this is what most of our 
breeders are doing. To succeed in breeding, one must 
have a standard or type in mind, and then breed to it. 
It will not matter so much about anything else, if the 
standard or type is strictly adhered to. 

Violent Crossing has Proved a Failure. In crossing 
types I have never known of any good resulting, when 
carried beyond the first cross. In Missouri I know of 
several stallions standing for service, the stallions being 
the result of crossing pure bred draft stallions upon 
Standard mares. The get of such cross bred stallions 



£12 STUDIES IN IIORSK IJKKKDING 

have very little value, seldom two being alike in any 
respect. It is such violent crossir.g that has given cross 
breeding it's bad reputation. 

Mendel's Law of Heredity is the best test of the good 
or ill effects of cross breeding. When the ancestry of 
two animals is known, their produce can be foretold by 
this law, to nearly a mathematical certainty. One could 
take a grey mare of one breed, whose type or conforma- 
tion throughout all her past ancestry was the same as 
that of a grey stallion of another breed, and their pro- 
duce would be just as certain to possess the grey color 
and conformation of the original pair, as if that -air 
had been of one breed. This one sentence covers the 
entire field of cross breeding. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE PHRENOLOGY OF THE HORSE. 

To speak of the phrenology or mentality of the 
horse to some men is but to provoke a smile, yet 
these same men when questioned, are willing to admit 
that value in a horse represents something more than 
bone and muscle. Bone and muscle would be of little 
value, if there was no stimulation for the action of 
these parts. This stimulation is but the function of the 
brain, and is carried to every part and every muscle 
of the body, by means of the spinal cord and its many 
branches. 

The Amount of Nervous Energy a horse possesses, 
will determine the ease with which he performs his 
work. 

It will be noticed by any one at all observing, that 
no two horses perform their work with the same degree 
of exhaustion resulting. Some appear to do their work 
with a freedom and willingness unknoAvn to others, 
and yet show no signs of exhaustion; while others 
must be urged in order to get them to do their work, 
and yet they always appear to be exhausted. This is 
wholly a condition of the nervous organization of the 
horse. Then again, some horses perform any task 
given them in an agreeable frame of mind, while 



214 



STUDIES IN HORSE IIREEDING 




THE PHRENOLOGY OF THE HORSE 215 

others will do nothing except nnder protest. The one 
is a willing helper, the other surly and obstinate. In 
this particular they do not differ from the human sub- 
ject. 

A Study of the Comparative Anatomy of the brain, 
discloses the fact that in all the faculties of the base 
of the brain, there is little difference between man 
and many animals. Animals must eat as well as man, 
hence we find the faculty of appetite developed in 
both. Both must defend and protect themselves from 
all forms of injury and we find the faculties of com- 
bativeness, destruction and secretion common to both. 
The desire to mate, and the love of young are com- 
mon to both man and the horse and we find these 
faculties developed in both. The organs of form and 
locality are needed by the horse as well as man, and 
we find these faculties developed in a high degree. The 
horse must have the organ of form, to aid him in see- 
ing, in the night, as well as to be able to see and dis- 
tinguish between forms seen at any time. The organ 
of locality is, just as necessary to him, that he may 
know and remember locations and directions. A horse 
never forgets a place he has once been to, and most 
horses if taken away from home for a long distance 
and by circuitous windings, will return by the short- 
est route, if given their liberty. I knoAv of a Pawnee 
pony mare that was ridden from eastern Nebraska, 
southeasterly" into anj through INIissouri, then in a 
northerly direction to near Davenport, Iowa, from the 
latter place she broke away from her keeper and made 
back directly to Nebraska, and her numerous family, 
reaching her old home three months after she was 



216 



STUIHE.S IN" HORSK BREEDING 



stolen. She Avas traced over this route, l)iit always 
enough behind the i-ider to prevent his capture. It 
was known that the pony had secured her freedom and 
was on th(^ way back, two weeks before she reached 
home. 




Figure 56. The human brain. 



The Brain of the Horse is of better quality than that 
of any other animal. 

While the l)rain of the horse is relatively smaller, 
than the brain of some other animals, yet in no other 



THE PHBEiVOLOGY OF THE HORSE 217 

animal can so fine a texture of brain be fonnd. It is 
the texture or quality of the brain, quite as much as 
its size that denotes mental quality. Some horsemen 
have held that a horse must be very unintelligent, be- 
cause of his small brain, while as a matter of fact few 
animals, if any, are capable of manifesting such rare 
intelligence as the horse. All other things being equal, 
size would be indicative of power, but throughout all 
Nature, quality counts for as much as size. A large 
timber of pine would be stronger than a small one, yet 
a small piece of good hickory may be stronger than 
either. An organic structure of high quality, indicates 
a like mental quality. 

Quality of the Brain Texture is analogous to the 
temperaments, which are alike in man and the horse. 
The nervous temperament is of greatest interest to the 
horseman. It is the nervous temperament developed 
to a high degree, that gives the horse that quality we 
call stamina. This is but "bottom," or staying power. 
It is also the intelligent horse in which we find the 
nervous temperament predominating. Possessing this 
temperament should not be construed to mean a horse 
v/ith excitable, or uncontrollable temper. It means 
the reverse. It means one having perfect control over 
both temper and actions. Breeds can be recognized 
quite readily by their temperament. The warm bred 
horses, such as the harness, and saddle horses are 
usually found with the nervous temperament predom- 
inating. The Percherons possess this temperament to 
a higher degree than any other of the draft breeds. 

The Vital Temperament is found developed in the 
Belgian more than in any other breed. The vital tem- 



21S 



STl'niES IN HORSE HREEnTNC 



pt'i-anient supplies vitality to the organs. It is the 
source of all vital energy, and sustains the entire ani- 
mal economy. Its i)redominance gives a horse with a 
deep Avell tilled body, with a tendency to take on tlesh 
rai)idly. It is from among' horses with this tempera- 
ment well developed, that we find most of our dull, 
sluggish, and stupid horses. ' 

The Motive Temperament. It is this temperament 




Figure 57. The skull of the horse, cut In half and showing 
the brain cavity. 



th.at residts from the organs of motion being well de- 
veloped. This temperament is indicated by the de- 
velopment of the bones and muscles of the horse. This 
temperament is more prominent in the Shire than any 
other breed, while the Clydesdale combines the motive 
and nervous temperaments in a remarkable degree. 
We find most of our self willed horses among those- 
with large motive, and small nervous temperament. 

A Well Balanced Org"anism. It is possible to have 
the temperaments well balanced. Ho far as draft 



THE PHEENOLOGY OF THE HORSE 



219 



horses are concerned, the better balance found exist- 
ing between the temperament.., the more valuable the 
horse. In the Belgian as a breed, we find the nervous 




Figure 58. Front view of the head of an intelligent horse. 
Note the great width between the eyes, and the extreme dis- 
tance from eye to ear. 



temperament poorly developed. The Clydesdale is 
more deficient in the vital temperament than any other, 



220 STUDIES IN HORSE liREEDING 

while tlie Percheron as a breed is found deficient 
mostly in the motive temperament. A well balanced 
orgv^nism can be found more often among the better 
Percherons, than in any other breed. 

The Comparative Anatomy of the Brain of the horse 
can be studied by a comparison of figure 55, with that 
of 56. In figure 55 can be seen the brain of tiie horse, 
while figure 56 shows the human brai-i. The greatest 
evidence of brain power, is in the convolutions or folds 
of that organ. It will be noticed that these convolu- 
tions are as great in the case of the horse, as in that 
of man. The only difference being in the case of man 
we find many convolutions not present in the brain of 
the horse. This corresponds with the phrenology of 
the two subjects. The social, aspiring, moral and most 
of the intellectual faculties found in man, are wanting 
in the horse. The skull of man is well filled with 
brain, while that of the horse is not, as shown in figjre 
57. In this figure it will be observed that it is in the 
posterior cavity of the skull (cranium), that the brain 
is lodged. Viewed from the top and front we find the 
skull composed of three bones ; parietal, frontal and 
nasal. The brain lies under the frontal bone, for the 
most part, and gives this part of the skull the appear- 
ance of being full or depressed, as it is large or small. 
The brain cavity or cranium is made greater, also, as 
the distance from orbit to orbit is increased. The brain 
itself is divisible into four chief parts : The cerebrum, 
forming the largest and most anterior part of the brain; 
the cerebellum, placed behind the cerebrum ; the pons 
Varolii, a band of nerve matter ; and the medulla ob- 



THE PHEEKOLOGY OE THE HORSE 



221 



longata, passing between the pons Varolii and the 
spinal cord. 

The Cerebrum the Organ of Intelligence. It is with 
the cerebrum, we have most to do in this chapter. 
Aside from quality, it is the size of the cerebrum 
that gives to the horse his intelligence. This can 




Figure 59. A side view of the head of a horse possessing 
remarkable intelligence. 

be determined by actual measurement of the exterior of 
the skull or head. In figure 58 is shown the head of a 
horse possessing a large brain, as indicated by the 
width between the eyes, and distance from eye to the 
opening of the ear. A horse narrow between the eyes, 



222 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

will be found timid as well as wanting' in intelligence. It 
is no easy matter to frighten a horse, possessing extreme 
width between the eyes; while the horse with narrow 
frontal bone, is always "seeing things." 

The Horse of Extreme Intelligence. Figure 59 
is a side view of the head of one of the most 
intelligent horses, if not the most intelligent, ever 
known. This horse was an educated one, not in trickery 
such as mesmeric and other tricks of man, but educated 
to do intelligent things. Among the other things he 
could do, was to ))e placed in a room by himself, where 
he would put together a set of blocks, forming a figure, 
which could only be formed by one way of arranging 
the blocks. He could open or unfasten any door that 
could be opened by a man, without the aid of a key. In 
fact all his work, was the v\^ork of an intelligent force; 
in many ways possessing the intelligence of the ordinary 
man. The frontal bone of this horse extended two and 
seven-eighths inches anteriorly to the eye, and the dis- 
tance from the center of one eye to the center of the 
other, was eleven inches. I have never been able to 
find another head of the horse, showing such an immense 
brain cavity. This horse was the result of crossing a 
grade Percheron mare with a Saddle br^d stallion. 

An Intelligent Head. In figure 60 is shown the 
actual photographic reproductions of side and front 
view of the head of a Percheron stallion, which 
are nothing if not remarkable for brain ca- 
pacity. This stallion measures ten and one-half 
inches between the eyes, nine inches from eye to opening 
of the ear, and thirteen and one-eighth inches from 
center of the eye, diagonally across to the opening of 



Tirli; PHRENOLOGY OF THE HORSE 



223 




224 STUDIES IN HORSE BEEEDING 

the opposite ear. The frontal bone of his head extends 
two and one-fourth inches anteriorly to the eye. This 
stallion has been made to make services without a strap 
of an}' kind upon him, in a yard where ten or a dozen 




Figure 61. Front view of the head of an intelligent colt. 

geldings and mares were present. The door to his stall 
can be left open, and he will not go out without per- 
mission, even though many horses are in sight, upon the 
outside. He can be driven anywhere without lines, and 



- THE PHRENOLOGY OF THE HORSE 225 

he will always turn to the right for any vehicle to which 
is hitched a horse, but if he meets an automobile, he will 
give no part of the road. 
An Intelligent Colt. Figure 61 is the head 




Figure 62. Front view of the head of a stallion with a 
timid disposition. This is indicated by the narrowness be- 
tween the eyes. 



of a colt at thirteen months. The width be- 
tween the eyes, the fulness of frontal bone and 

distance from eye to ear all denote intelligence of a 

.J 



226 



STUDIES IN IIUKSK lUiKKUING 



high order. His true character does not misrepresent his 
])hrenolooy, for he is a colt of the highest intelligence. 
One only has to show him what is wanted of him, and he 
is always ready to do it. 

The Head of a Timid Horse. Figures 62 and 
63 are front and side views of the head of 
a stallion too narrow^ between the eyes. A horse 
with such a head will ahvavs be found timid. His 




Figure 63. Side view of the liead shown in figure 62. The 
fullness of the frontal hone indicates a self-willed disposition. 



nasal l)one is full and arched, making the form known 
as Roman nose. This form of nasal bone is always asso- 
ciated with self-willed horses, and when found in con- 
nection Avith a narrow head, it gives us a horse that 
will prove unsafe to drive. The stallion whose head is 
shown in figures 62 and 63 is timid, will become fright- 
ened at bridges, vehicles, signs, loose paper and all other 



THE PHEENOLOGY OF THE HORSE 



227 



uncommon objects. This is not all, for when so fright- 
ened he will go through a stone wall, or at least try it, 
to get away from the object of his fright. In every 
other respect the disposition of this horse is excellent, as 




Figure 64. Front view of tlie head of an unintelligent 
brute. Note the depression between the eyes. 



might be expected by the bright and prominent eye, 
and erect ear. 

The Head of a Stupid Horse. Figures 64 and 
65 are the front and side views of a stallion 



228 



STUnjES IX IIORSK r.HKKIlIiSfi 



tliat scarcely knows enough to eat when liuii<;ry. 
In figure G4 note the depression of the frontal bone be- 
tween the eyes, and in figure 65 the shortness of head 
from eyeto ear. Seldom is a head seen upon a tou horse, 
with so small a brain cavity, and the disposition of this 
horse does not belie his phrenology. I never saw a more 




Figure 65. A side view of the head shown in figure 64. 
Note the shortness of distance from eye to ear. This horse 
does not possess ordinary brute sense, and few horses are 
ever seen with so small a brain. 



stupid brute; even the ordinary animal instincts l)ei ug 
poorly developed in him. 

To Summarize, the character of the horse can be told 
by the temperament and brain capacit}^ The former 
has reference to the quality of the brain, the latter to 
the quantity. The motive temperament is where the 
development of the organs of motion are greatest. It is 



' THE PHRENOLOGY OF THE HOKSE 229 

in this temperament we find the most stubborn and self- 
willed horses. When this is balanced with a good nerv- 
ous temperament we have an excellent combination, 
giving us both force and intelligence or quality. 

The Vital Temperament is when the vital organs are 
greatest in their development. It is in this temperament 
we find most of our dull, lazy and stupid horses. With 
this temperament dominant we always have a good 
feeder and doer. 

The Nervous Temperament is the outward manifesta- 
tion of quality. It is the highest and best development 
of the brain and nerves. It is in this temperament we 
find our most intelligent horses. This temperament 
usually predominates in the trotter, the pacer, the 
saddler and the running horse. It is indicated by the 
bright and prominent e^'^e ; the fine hair and soft, vel- 
vety skin ; and quality in every j)art. 

The Proper Balance of Temperaments. The best 
results are found in the proper combination or bal- 
ance of these temperaments. The vital is needed to 
feed and nourish the body. The motive is needed to 
give strength and force to every part, while the nervous 
is actually necessary to furnish the stimulation for ac- 
tion of every bone, and every muscle. In figure 25 can 
be seen an ideal combination of the three temperaments, 
and such a combination as is seldom seen in a draft 
stallion. The deep body, and good middle are evidence 
of vital power. The massive bone and great muscular 
development of motive force ; while the great brain 
capacity and quality in every part show a wonderful 
nervous energy. 

In the Quantity of Brain, the size of the cavity is our 
only guide. This is indicated by the width between the 



230 STUDIES IX IIORSK IIUEICDIXG 

eyes and fulness of same, tog'etlier with the distance 
from eye to ear. Those wide between the ears, are to 
be watched, for they will be found vicious and treacher- 
ous. Horses narrow between the eyes, will be found 
timid — that is wanting in courage. The Avider between 
the eyes, and the greater the fulness of the frontal bone, 
the greater Avill be the intelligence. 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE SCIENCE OF JUDGING DRAFT HORSES. 

In the judging of draft horses, not enough importance 
has been attached to the most essential points. A nice 
top line may be pleasing to the eye, yet it adds nothing 
to the utility of the horse. Then again, the trot adds 
nothing in real value to the draft horse, yet much im- 
portance is attached to this gait by most judges. If a 
draft horse walks right, his trot will be all right, but 
the real drafter is not performing his work at the trot, 
and will seldom have occasion to use that gait. 

No attempt will be made in this chapter in the way 
of offering a complete plan of judging draft horses from 
the utility view point. My time has been occupied by 
problems in breeding, to the exclusion of nearly every 
other, to such an extent that I have only recently begun 
the study of systems of judging, better than those now 
in use. 

That there is need of a better system of judging can 
not be better shown than by referring to the score card 
now in use. A score of 11 is given the perfect fore- 
pastern and hock combined, out of a possible 100. In the 
case of more than 100,000 horses reported, 30 per cent of 
them went wrong because of defective fore-pastern and 
hock. In an actual test, we find an importance of 30 



232 STUDIES IN HORSE BKEEDING 

per cent should be attached to these two points, while 
in theory an importance of only 11 per cent is given 
them. If one can find a difference of 19 per cent of a 
whole, between theory and fact, existing in the ease of 
only two parts of the horse, what may one expect when 
every part of the horse is considered. 

A Horse is Comparable to a Machine. I am probably 
the only one who has ever attempted to compare a horse 
to a machine, constructed for a specific purpose, and by 
actual, mechanical tests tried to learn his weak parts. I 
have been carrying on these tests for some time, and 
have not completed my work yet. 

The Balance of a Horse. The first thing I learned 
was the per cent of weight borne upon each set of feet. 
In many tests of draft horses, I found that from 56% to 
59I/4 per cent of the weight was borne upon the fore 
feet. The average for all these tests was slightly less 
than 58 per cent. In the case of the Standard bred 
horse, a greater weight is borne upon the fore feet, than 
any other breed. There is a slight difference also, in the 
several draft breeds, but not enough to be of any interest 
to the student or breeder. 

How Energy is Expended. The amount of energy 
expended by each end of a draft horse in moving heavy 
loads I have investigated. In the experiment horses 
were used weighing from 1400 to 1900 pounds. They 
were made to pull from an exact level, scales being used 
to register the d^raft. Only a nominal difference was 
registered between the many horses used, the average 
being 71 per cent for the hind legs and only 29 per cent 
by the fore legs. This one line of investigation teaches 
us that the hock is the most important part of the draft 



THE ^SCIENCE OF JUDGING DRAFT HORSES 233 

horse, and it also teaches us why so many liorses g-o 
wrong in the hock. 

The Proper Set of the Hind Leg. Most draft horses 
are either too straight or too crooked in the hind leg. 
A hock set at the proper angle gives more power, than 
when set too far back or too far forward. If the hock 
is correctly set as regards its position to the body ; is of 
proper size and good qnality, it will never go wrong 
nnder any circnmstances. In case of accident, the bone 
above or below the hock will break before the hock will 
break or go wrong. 

The Different Hock Conformations. In many tests I 
have made of the hocks of different conformations, I 
find it easy to group all hocks into three classes. These 
are shown in figure 67. The hock shown at "A" will 
never go Avrong if the quality is good. Such a hock can 
be tested by applying mechanical power, and in practi- 
cally every test, the bone will break before the hock 
goes wrong. In this conformation of hock it will be 
noticed that the point of the buttock, the point of the 
hock, and the back part of the fetlock are perpendicular 
to each other. 

The Spavin and Thoroughpin Conformation, At " B " 
in this figure is shown a hock set too far back. Because 
of this set or angle such a hock will be found slightly 
open at the fore part of the joint, making this joint weak 
in its front part. It is with such a conformation that we 
usually find the spavin and thoroughpin. Such a hock is 
likely to be as strong in its back part, as the hock shown 
at "A" in this figure, but Avill always be found weak 
at the front part of the joint. 

The Curby Conformation. The hock shown at the 
right in figure 67, is set too far forward and will always 



234 



STUDIKS IX IIOHSK I'.RKKDIXO 






CD '^ 



So 



<i d 



m 

at 

cS bjo 






® 



rt 



r: ^ fH 



THE SCIENCE OF JUDGING DRAFT HORSES 235 

be found weak at the hind part of the joint. It is with 
a conformation of the hoek such as this, that we find the 
curb ; while such a hock may be as strong as any in its 
front part. 

The Importance of a Good Hock. In mailing out the 
circular letter, reference to which has already been made 
in chapter XI, copies of figures 66 and 67 were also 
inclosed. Reports of 101,839 horses owned were re- 
ported from this line of investigation. Of these 32,902 
were reported as having become unsound. Owners of 
horses reporting were requested to compare the confor- 
mation of their horses with those shoAvn in figures 66 and 
67 and report the result of these comparisons. Of the 
32,902 horses reported as unsound, 21,737 were reported 
unsound behind, 93 per cent of such unsoundness being 
in the hock. Here again we have evidence of the im- 
portance of a good hock, and based not upon theory, but 
actual fact. Of all horses becoming unsound, 61 per 
cent did so because of their hoek going wrong. In the 
selection of breeding stock, no part should be given as 
careful attention as the hock. 

The Conformation of Unsound Hocks. The conforma- 
tion of hock shoAvn at "A" in figure 67, was seldom 
found with an unsound hock, while the sound horses 
were mostly reported with that conformation. The 
largest number of unsound hocks was reported as being 
of the conformation shown at "B," in figure 67. 

The Correct Conformation of Pastern. Taking up the 
conformation of the fore legs, of the 32,902 horses re- 
ported as unsound, 11,165 of them were reported un- 
sound in front. As regards these, 10,378 were reported 
with short and straight pasterns. Some Avere reported 
as having rather poor feet at the time of their purchase, 



236 



STITDIES IN IIORSK liREKDING 







o "^ 


i,h 


as 

OJO 




r^ 


i> 






.2 '^ 


o ^ 


b o 




ft 1^ 


g3 cj 






1^ '^ 

o 


c35 


o ■" 

> be 




o o 


i> +^ 


a o 






CC 5-1 
> 




"^ s 


O 


^ ^ 




"^ a! 

0) 


^ bJO 

CD 






sS 


5c^ 


- O 




^i 


•Si 

o 






<^ a 


^ § 








•rH <^ 


^ ^ 




. 02 
02 -^ 


O 'O 


+J 






m 
o 




a; -!-> 


a> 


° t3 








+J d 




rH 




S^ 




•S >> 


r— t r— 




o 


o o 


?2S 




2 -^ 

o +^ 


CD 
CD 


=2^ 
2 ° 




CO O 


^ o 
+J -t-J 


S =t-i 










o 


O r- 


=4—1 ^ 


o 






o _^ 


bj) o 
O ^ 


o 


o t^ 




b a; 


cti 




o^ 


^ 03 


be 


S "^ 


■"" s 


o.^ 






(D a 
5 53 


o ^ 


o 




n 


-•^ bJD 


0) 




d 0) 


^''^ 


> 

CD 


?" 2 




"3 OJ 


■C 


OB 


r3 yj- 




2? 


be bJO 


o 
O 



TIIIC SCIErvCE OF JUDGING DRAFT HORSES 



237 



but Avliere the pastern was of proper length and elas- 
ticity, the feet had remained in about the same condi- 
tion. Upon the other hand, horses purchased with good 
feet, but short, straight pasterns, soon became crippled 
in their feet. In no instance was a shoulder lameness 
reported, that the horse did not have a straight pastern. 
Unsoundness Resulting' from a Short and Straight 
Pastern. It can be readily seen that without a pastern 
of reasonable length and elasticity, to aid in dissipating 
concussion, the draft horse will not long remain sound 
in front, when used upon the paved streets of the cities. 
Taking the reports together, it will be seen that short 
and straight pasterns in front and defective hocks be- 
hind, are responsible for most of the linsounduess of our 
draft horses. The table below will show the defects, 
both as to kind and numl)ers of the 32,902 horses re- 
ported unsound. 

Fore feet 2337 7.-1 per cent 

Sidebone 4186 12.7 

Pastern 978 2.9 

Fetlock 1269 3.8 



Knee 


7 


02 


Elbow 


69 


.2 


Shoulder . . 


. . . 2319 


7. 


Hind feet . . 


. . . 43 


13 


Pastern .... 


. .. 107 


32 


Fetlock 


. .. 1282 


3.9 


Hock 


. . . 20215 


.....61.4 


Stifle 


. .. 61 


18 


Hip 


. .. 29 


08 



Sidebones. No attempt has been made to indicate the 
unsoundness by giving it a name, the location of the 
trouble only being given. The one exception to this 



238 STUDIES IN IlOliSK lUiKKDlNG 

rule is in i'ei:;ard to sidebones. This defect was of such 
fre(|uent occurrence. I deemed it best to let it be known, 
as 12.7 per cent of all unsound horses were troubled with 
sidebone. Here for the first time is given the location, 
and per cent of frequency of the occurrence of unsound- 
ness in draft horses, as one may reasonably expect to find 
them upon the streets of our cities. The four weakest 
parts of the draft horse, in the order of their frequency, 
is the hock, with 61.4 per cent; the fore pastern (in- 
cluding coronet), with 15.6 per cent; the fore feet, with 
7.4 per cent ; and the shoulder, with 7 per cent. It has 
already been observed that the defects of feet and 
shoulder were aggravated at least by a defective pas- 
tern. In very many instances they were directly caused 
by a defective pastern. Reducing the number of weak 
points in the horse as much as possible, and we find 
that about 85 per cent of the unsoundness reported, was 
the result of defective hock and pastern. Taking the 
entire number of horses reported, sound and unsound, 
about 20 per cent were defective in the hocks, and about 
10 per cent were defective in the fore pastern. 

The Importance of Good Hock and Pastern. No such 
importance as this, has ever been given to these two 
points of the draft horse, by any .judge or system of 
judging in this country. Here also, is one of the reasons 
why so little value is placed upon prize winning horses, 
by the great mass of people, and especially breeders. 
Exhibitors will themselves price first prize winners be- 
low those Avinning no place in the same class. It also 
explains in a measure, why oiu' liest horses are never 
shown. 

The Value of Good Eyes. The next most important 
point in the horse, is the eye. It is very important, both 



THE SCIENCE OF JUDGING DRAFT HOKSES 239 

because of the utility value it gives the horse, and the 
tendency to inherit defective vision. In a report upon 
49,317 horses used in this country, eight years or more 
of age, 5,013 had some inherited defect of the eye. 
These reports were based upon the examinations of vet- 
erinarians, and must be considered reliable. Such a 
report is startling, however, and Avell may be, when some 
more than 10 per cent of the commercial horses of a 
country have defective vision. It is much more than I 
would have been inclined to believe, if I had not the 
figures before me. This is in a measure a breed defect, 
as the grade Percherons were found much more defec- 
tive in this respect than any other breed. 

Intelligence and Temperament. The brain develop- 
ment of the horse, including temperament, plays a much 
more important part in making up the value of a horse 
than has ever been accorded it. The greater the brain 
development in the draft horse, the more easily his work 
is done, the more pleasure the driver experiences in the 
handling of his team, and the less wear upon the horse 
as a result of his willingness to perform every duty 
required of him. 

The Standard, or Scale of Points Used in Judging- 
Horses. Again taking up the subject of a standard for 
draft horses, I wish to refer to the standard now in 
general use. I do so with no disrespect intended its 
Author, for no man living holds him in higher esteem 
than myself, nor does anyone appreciate the value of his 
work to American breeders more. The following is the 
standard noAv in general use : 

General Appearance: Weight, over 1,500 lbs., accord- 
ing to age 4 

Form, broad, massive, proportioned 4 



240 STUDIES Ix\ IIOKSK liHKKDING 

Quality, bone smooth and hard, tendons lean, skin and 

hair fine 4 

Temperament, energetic; disposition good 4 

Head and Neck: Head, lean, medium size, well devel- 
oped jowls 1 

Muzzle, fine; nostrils large; lips thin, even 1 

Eyes, large, full, bright and clear 1 

Forehead, broad and full 1 

Bars, medium size, well carried •. 1 

Neck, muscled, crest high; throat-latch clean, wind- 
pipe large 1 

Forequai'ters: Shoulder, sloping, smooth, snug, ex- 
tending into back 2 

Arm, short, well thrown back 1 

Forearm, heavily muscled, large, long and wide 2 

Knees, wide, clean cut, straight, deep, strongly sup- 
ported 2 

Cannons, short, lean, wide; sinews large, set back. . . 2 

Fetlocks, wide, straight, strong 1 

Pasterns, sloping, lengthy, strong 3 

Feet, large, even size; horn dense; sole concave 8 

Legs, viewed in front, a perpendicular line from the 
point of the shoulder should fall upon the center 
of the knee, cannon, pastern and foot. From the 
side a perpendicular line dropping from the center 
of the elbow joint should fall upon the center of 

the knee and fetlock and back of hoof 4 

Body: Chest, wide, low, large girth 2 

Ribs, long, close, well sprung 2 

Back, straight, short, broad • 2 

Loins, wide, short, thick, straight 2 

Underline, flank low 1 

Hindquarters: Hips, smooth, wide 2 

Croup, wide, muscular 2 

Tail, attached high, well carried 1 

Thighs., muscular, strong and deep i 

Gaskins, wide, heavily muscled 2 

Hocks, clean cut, wide, straight 8 

Cannons, short, wide • 2 



THE SCIENCE OF JUDGING DKAFT HOUSES 241 

Fetlocks, wide, strong 1 

Pasterns, sloping, strong, lengthy 2 

Feet, large, even size, dark color, horn dense 6 

Legs, viewed from behind, a perpendicular line from 
the point of the buttock should fall upon the center 
of the hock, cannon, pastern and foot. From the 
side, a perpendicular line from the hip joint should 
fall upon the center of the foot and divide the gas- 
kin in the middle; and a perpendicular line from 
the point of the buttock should run parallel to the 

line of the , cannon 4 

Action: Walk, smooth, quick, long, balanced and 

springy 6 

Trot, rapid straight, regular 4 

Total 100 

It will be seen that the above scale of points gives the 
eyes an importance of but one per cent of the full per- 
fect score ; the fore pastern but three per cent ; and the 
hock but eight per cent ; while in actual tests the eyes 
should be given 10 per cent, the pastern in front 10 per 
cent, and the hock 20 per cent. This is a wide differ- 
ence, but just so long as standards are based upon 
theory, just so long will we find judges differing, and 
horses winning high honors valued below those winning 
no place in the same class. Theory has been doing too 
much for the good of the breeding industries, especially 
that of horse breeding. It has never occurred to judges 
of horses, that judging might be reduced to a science, 
based upon actual facts. 

In the Judging of Fat Cattle this has been done. The 
animal to be judged is divided (mentally) into the com- 
mercial cuts, and when the judging is finished, one has 
an idea of which animal would sell for the most money 
in the open market. There is no known reason why the 



242 STUIIIKS iX IIORSK HRKKDIXG 

same rule cannot be ai)plied to the judging of draft 
lu)rses. 

A New Scale of Points. 1 believe the following scale 
of points will be found more nearly correct, as regards 
the relative importance of each part of the horse, than 
any ever formulated. 

Form and Quality: Attachment of legs; viewed from in 
front and behind, the legs should be well set under 
the horse; viewed from the side they should be per- 
pendicular to the body 4 

Weight, over 1,800 lbs., according to age 4 

Temperament, as indicated by smooth and hard bone, 

skin and hair fine, with an abundance of energy ... 5 
Head and Neck: Intelligence, as indicated by width and 
fulness between the eyes, and good length from 

eyes to ears 5 

Eyes, large, full, bright, and of a hazel color 10 

Ears, medium size, carried erect 1 

Neck, muscled, good crest, wind pipe large, throat- 
latch clean 2 

Forequarters : Shoulder, sloping, well muscled and ex- 
tending into back 2 

Arm and forearm, well muscled 2 

Knees, wide, straight, well supported 1 

Fetlocks, wide and strong 2 

Pasterns, sloping 45 degrees, good length, elastic. ... 10 

Feet, large, even size, dense horn 5 

Body: Chest, wide, low, large girth, not less than 8 6 

inches in mature horse 2 

Back and loin, short well muscled 1 

Underline, flank low and well filled 2 

Hindquarters: Hips and croup, wide, well muscled. ... 2 

Tail, attached high, well carried 1 

Thighs and gaskins, muscular 2 

Hocks, clean, wide, straight 20 

Fetlocks, wide, straight, strong 3 

Pasterns, sloping, strong 2 



THE SCIENCE OF JUDGING DRAFT HORSES 243 

Feet, large, even size, dense horn 2 

Walk, straight, regular, smooth, long, quick, bal- 
anced and elastic 10 

Total . . 100 

The above standard is intended at the present time as 
a suggestion only, believing it will be found more nearly 
correct than any ever suggested. It has one serious 
defect, however, that of good lungs and wind. I am 
now investigating this point upon a large scale, but have 
not yet the data at hand to make an accurate report, or 
even suggestion. Defective wind is also too common in 
this country. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



FEEDING THE HORSE. 

In several preceding chapters the subject of feeds or 
feeding had to be taken up, but only because of its influ- 
ence upon the subject then under discussion. This 
chapter is not intended to be more than an aid to the 
breeder, in the feeding of his horses. 

The Amount of Nutriment to be secured by the horse 
from any kind or quantity of feed, depends upon its 
mastication, the action of fhe salivary glands and the 
gastric fluids. The food is first reduced by the molar 
teeth, assisted by lips, tongue and cheeks, in passing it 
to the place of grinding and holding it in position. In 
the horse the lower jaw is about an inch narrower than 
the upper, so that grinding is possible on but one side 
at a time. As mastication proceeds, the feed is mixed 
with saliva poured upon it from glands opening into 
the mouth. 

Experiments Made by Colin made it possible for him 
to state that it required nearly twenty minutes for a 
horse to masticate one pound of dry hay, and that four 
pounds of saliva was secreted and poured out upon 
every pound of dry fodder consumed. Oats required a 
little more than their own weight, green fodder about 
half. It can be seen that the more thorough the mastica- 



FEEDING THE HORSE 245 

tion, the more perfect the digestion following. In other 
words the more time consumed in the mastication of his 
food, the better will the digestion of the horse be carried 
through. In this connection for feeding grain, an auto- 
matic feeder has many advantages over feeding in an 
open trough. Digestion is further aided by the gastric 
fluids poured upon the food after it enters the stomach. 
The stomach of the horse is so small that it cannot con- 
tain much feed at one time, because of which the food 
is constantly being pushed on and out of the stomach 
before it has been long acted on by the gastric juice. 
The large intestine of the horse has a capacity of about 
six times the stomach, permitting the retention of a 
large quantity of food. The capacity of the stomach 
of a mature horse is but eighteen to twenty quarts. 
The entire alimentary canal is but a system of glands, 
secreting fluids to aid the process of digestion. 

The Elements of Food. Foods may be divided into 
three elements or classes of nutrition : protein, consisting 
of the nitrogenous substances of the food ; fat, which are 
absorbed unchanged in the form of an emulsion ; and 
carbohydrates, which are converted into some form of 
sugar, which enters the blood by absorption from the 
intestinal canal. 

A Proper Balance of Nutrition. We have now reached 
that part of our subject, wheir^ trouble is easily in 
evidence. Food products can be so compounded, that a 
proper balance between the three elements of food nutri- 
tion may be maintained, and yet not be the correct 
ration for the animal we are feeding. 

Acids and Bases. The Ohio experiment station has 
recently concluded experiments, and announced the 



246 STUDIES IN nOKSE BKEEDING 

same in their bulletin number 207, dealing with balanced 
rations for animals from a new standpoint. The one 
thing of most value to feeders and breeders resulting 
from this experiment, is that not only should there be a 
balance between the protein and other food elements, 
but that the balance between the inorganic acid and base 
forming elements in the food should also be maintained ; 
that the acid formers should not predominate over the 
bases in the feed. 

Inorganic Matter. There are in all food stuffs minerals 
taken from the soil by the plant. These minerals form 
the ash left when the portions of plant material are 
burned, and because they are not destroyed by fire they 
are called inorganic. Some of these elements which 
remain behind in the ash when foodstuffs are burned 
unite with oxygen and water to form acids ; others unite 
with oxygen and water to form what is known as bases, 
of which slaked lime is a good example. Now the pro- 
cess to which foods are subjected in the body is really 
a burning process; at all events the end products are 
similar to those resulting from ordinary burning. Thus 
when foods are taken into the body these inorganic 
elements form acids and bases as final products. 

The Balance Between Acids and Bases. Bases and 
acids each have peculiar properties. However, when an 
acid and a base are brought together they neutralize 
each other and the resultant product is something en- 
tirely different from either of the original compounds, 
having lost all its active and irritating properties. In 
the animal body, as we have said, the inorganic, or ash 
elements, of the food form acids and bases. If the base 
formed is in excess of the acid, the acid is neutralized 



FEEDING THE HORSE 247 

and the functions of the body continue normal, since 
the normal condition of the blood and body tissues seem 
to be slightly basic. If, however, the acid formed in the 
body as a result of the breaking down of the food mate- 
rials is in excess of the bases, then an abnormal condi- 
tion results, and if long continued, the animal will be 
affected with a disease known as acidosis or acid intoxi- 
cation. This may become so serious as to cause the 
death of the animal. 

Sulphur and Phosphorus Found Mostly in Protein 
Foods. In the common foodstuffs on the farm the min- 
eral substances which produce acids in the body are sul- 
phur, phosphorus and chlorine ; those which produce 
bases are potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium. 
These are found in various combinations in plants and 
feeds, but the greater part of the acid-forming substance 
in the animal body comes from sulphur and phosphorus. 
The sulphur of feeds is contained almost entirely in 
the protein or muscle-forming part ; phosphorus is con- 
tained in a number of forms in f eeds^ but most largely in 
the protein, also. Thus it will be seen that any feed rich 
in protein will cause the formation of a large amount 
of inorganic acid in the animal body. This requires 
that high protein foods have sufficient base-forming 
material accompanying them to insure that the acid 
formed in the animal body will all be neutralized. 

The Cause of Small Bones. It will be seen from this 
that the balance between the acid-forming elements and 
the base-forming elements in the ration for animals is of 
great importance. This balance is indicated by the 
analysis in the ash of the feeds, which shows the relative 
proportion of the two classes of elements. Unless suffi- 



248 STUDIES IN HORSE BREEDING 

eient base-forming material is present in foods, the 
bones themselves will be robbed to supply bases to neu- 
tralize the excess of acid. A condition of this kind is the 
cause of rickets, porous bone in old animals ; and of a 
lack of bone development in young animals vv^here the 
ash content of the food may be high, but v^here the acid- 
forming and base-forming elements are not balanced. 

Corn Has an Acid Ash. In straight corn feeding we 
see the resultant of a complication of deficiencies ; corn 
lacks protein as well as minerals. In the ash, both acids 
and bases, are deficient but the bases considerably more 
so than the acids, so that as an only food, corn is char- 
acterized by an excess of acid mineral elements, and this 
excess, together with the deficiency in the total amount 
of mineral matter present, limits the growth of the 
skeleton ; but if the protein in the ration of the corn-fed 
animal is increased by the use of supplements, to such 
an extent as will support a maximum production of pro- 
tein increase, then both phosphorus and the mineral 
bases must be increased. 

The Quantity of Ash Required. The basic mineral 
elements in a ration must be present in quantities cor- 
responding to the protein, since the sulphur and phos- 
phorus of the food proteins constitute the principal 
sources of mineral bases in the food but also. that this 
excess be maintained at a high level ; that is, that aside 
from the balance between acid and base, the total quan- 
tity of ash should be considerable. 

Alfalfa and Clover are very rich not only in protein 
but also in the mineral bases, so that they make a fine 
supplementary food for corn. That alfalfa gives such 
excellent results when fed with corn to horses can be 



FEEDING THE HOESE 249 

accounted foi^ in no small degree by the fact that it is 
so rich in mineral bases. 

Corn Makes a Poor Showing When Fed to Breeding 
Animals. This necessity of maintaining the balance be- 
tween the inorganic acid and base-forming elements, 
explains why it is impossible to make an ideal ration for 
horses used for breeding purposes, when any part of 
that ration is corn. It will be remembered that in a 
former chapter I mentioned instances of both stallions 
and mares being kept on an exclusive grain ration of 
corn for two or three years without apparent injury, and 
then have them go wrong, becoming barren or nearly so, 
seemingly at once. In all the data, collected upon the 
subject of barrenness, in no case did a ration of which 
corn was a part, make a good showing. 

The Minimum Amount of Nutriment. Food supplies 
materials for making good the waste of body tissues. If 
the supply is liberal and exceeds the demands of the 
body, the horse will gain in flesh and weight. If the 
supply is only equal to the material broken down, the 
weight of the horse will remain unchanged. If the 
supply is below the actual demands of the body, the 
horse will lose weight. There is a minimum amount of 
nutriment absolutely necessary for the maintenance of 
life. 

The Protein of the Food is the only source of nitrogen- 
ous substances in the body. The formation of flesh, 
therefore, is primarily dependent upon the supply of 
protein in the food. Any excess of protein in the food 
of a horse is disposed of through the excretion of urine. 
The decomposition of nutritive material of the blood and 
body tissues, goes on as long as the horse lives, and this 



250 STUDIKS IN IIOKSK liRKEDlNG 

is known as protein consumption. Neitlier fat nor carbo- 
hydrates, when fed alone, have any influence upon pro- 
tein consumption. The body would decompose the same 
amount of protein, in the case of exclusive feeding of fat 
or carbohydrates, as if no food whatever was given. 
When a balanced ration is fed, consisting of protein, 
fat and carbohydrates, the consumption of protein de- 
pends wholly upon the supply of protein iii the food. 

The Feeding of Salt daily in moderate quantities to 
horses, increases the secretion of the body fluids and 
their circulation, and increases the energy of the vital 
processes. It also has a stimulating influence on the 
appetite of the horse, and should always be a small part 
of the ration for all breeding horses. 

Nervous Energy is Increased by Protein, One very 
noticeable thing in the making of a ration for a horse, is 
the increase of nervous energy noted as the ration is 
narrowed ; that is as the protein is increased at the ex- 
pense of the carbohydrates. This teaches us that the 
ration may be widened for horses not at work. The 
ratio of the legumes usually fed the horse, such as the 
clovers and alfalfa, will average about 1 :3%, while for 
other fodders, or coarse foods it will run from 1 :7 up to 
1 :12. Horses fed upon the former always display the 
more energy. The same is true of concentrates or 
grains. The ratio of oats is 1 :5 while that of corn is 1 :7, 
and a ratio of oats always gives the greater energy. By 
ratio is meant in this chapter, the ratio of protein to 
carbohydrates. 

The Digestibility of foods differ, but the average di- 
gestibility of the protein and carbohydrates found in 
the foods usually given the horse is about 80 per cent. 



FEEDING THE HORSE 251 

If one was to follow a sj-stem of balanced ration feedinj^, 
for every 1,000 ponnds of weight should be given 20 
pounds of food (dry matter), in which could be found 
two pounds of protein and eleven pounds of carbo- 
hydrates. Seldom can two horses be found in the same 
barn requiring the same amount of food. It is because 
of this that more skill is required in the feeding of 
horses than any other animals. 

In Conclusion, as already stated in previous chapters, 
I would feed no corn to horses which were to be used 
for breeding. Corn stover, free from dirt and dust is 
good. Also any hay well cured, and free from mold 
or dust. The clovers and alfalfa fed in moderation have 
no equal. Oat, barley and wheat straw are safe to use, 
and can be used with the clovers and alfalfa to ad- 
vantage. Grasses or grains likely to contain ergot 
should be avoided. Millet should never be fed a horse 
of any kind. Sorghum hay or fodder is hazardous at 
best. Kaffir fodder has proved a very fair food for the 
horse in several localities, but I have never used it. The 
best single grain ever fed a horse is oats. Crushed 
barley is the next best, but should be crushed, and not 
ground. Wheat bran is good when mixed with other 
feed, but will not be needed if clover or alfalfa is used. 
Shorts and middlings form a pastry mass in the stomach 
of a horse and should not be used. Kaffir corn ground 
has proved a very fair food for a horse, but is improved 
with a mixture of oats. Cotton seed meal should never 
be used, and linseed meal only in small quantities. After 
all is said, the secret of successful feeding lies in so 
feeding the horse that he may be found at his best at 
all times, and what may be best for one, may not prove 
best for another. 



APPENDIX. 



BREEDING FACTS WORTH REMEMBERING. 

Salt. Breeding animals should have all the salt they 
will consume. The}^ are prolific, or otherwise, in propor- 
tion to the salt solutions found in the body. 

Evidence of Virility. A stallion 's desire, or readiness 
to copulate, is no evidence of his virility. Some of the 
most virile stallions are very slow servers. 

Fat in Breeding Animals, is a potent factor in the 
cause of l^oth impotency and degeneracy. 

Death of Foals. Most of the young foals dying, are 
those coming early, rather than those coming later in 
the season. 

Evidence of Pregnancy. The only satisfactory way 
of knowing whether or not a mare is pregnant, is by 
examination via the rectum. After the third month, 
this can be done safely, and with certainty. 

Frequency of Service. A draft stallion will sire more 
live foals on one service per day, than he will by making 
two or more services daily. Excessive service is a fre- 
quent cause of sterility, besides producing many weakly 
foals. 

Capsule Service. Where the work is properly done, 
capsule service will result in 30 per cent more foals than 
natural service. 

Brood Mare. Give the brood mare a chance, her foal 
Avill sell for more money than her labor. 



Foals. To mature a foal into a good horse, requires 
good feeding as well as good breeding. If five pounds 
of oats per day will make a good foal, ten pounds will 
make a better one. 

Educating Colts. An hour spent in the early training 
of a colt, is worth more than a week spent later in 
breaking. 

Pure Air. No tonic ever sold over a drug counter, is 
worth as much to breeding stock, as pure air. 

Pure Water. To do their best, horses need pure water 
quite as much as yourself. 

Exercise. No colt will mature into a good horse, nor 
will a stallion sire the best foals possible, without an 
abundance of exercise. 

Working- Mares. There is no reason why mares can 
not be worked and produce good foals, yet taken as a 
whole, the}'- never have been. This should serve as a 
lesson in teaching us to work them carefully, and with 
good judgment. 

Grass. There is no food so good for the brood mare 
and foal, as good grass, especially when used in connec- 
tion with oats. 

Hocks. Look well to the hocks of the stallion used 
upon your mares. No part of the horse is of such vital 
importance. 

Showing Stock. As our shows are now conducted, 
mares can not be used for both the show ring and 
breeding. It is for you to decide which use to make of 
them. 

Advertising. If you are going to advertise your 
horses, as a means to selling them, patronize journals 
read by actual buyers. Breeding good horses onl}^ is 
the best advertisement. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTORY 
CHAPTER I. 
CHAPTER II. 

CHAPTER III. 
CHAPTER IV. 
CHAPTER V. 
CHAPTER VI. 
CHAPTER VII. 
CHAPTER VIII. 
CHAPTER IX. 
CHAPTER X. 
CHAPTER XL 
CHAPTER XII 
CHAPTER XIII. 
CHAPTER XIV. 
CHAPTER XV. 
CHAPTER XVI. 
APPENDIX 



Conception 11 

The Foetus, and Foetal Membranes of the- 

Horse 36 

The Selection of a Stallion , . 51 

The Care of the Stallion 68 

The Selection of a Brood Mare 88 

The Care of the Brood Mare 94 

Barrenness and Sterility Ill 

The Capsule Method of Breeding 125 

The Care of the Foal 144 

Diseases of the Horse 152 

The Breeds 174 

Jacks and Jennets 202 

Cross Breeding 206 

The Phrenology of the Horse 213 

The Science of Judging Draft Horses. . . .231 

Feeding the Horse 244 

252 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Figure 1. The Semen of a Barren Stallion 12 

Figure 2. The Spermatozoa of the Stallion 13 

Figure 3. The Beginning of a Life 14 

Figure 4. A Spermatozoon of the Horse 15 

Figure 5. The Genital Glands of the Stallion 16 

Figure 6. Seminal Vesicles and Vas Deferens of the 

Stallion 17 

Figure 7. The Genital Organs of the Stallion 18 

Figure 8. The Genital Organs of the Mare 22 

Figure 9. Ovary and Fallopian Tube of the Mare 23 

Figure 10. The Ovum of the Mare 24 

Figure 11. Section of a Mare's Ovum , 25 



Figure 12. 
Figure 13. 
Figure 14. 
Figure 15. 
Figure 16. 
Figure 17. 
Figure 18. 
Figure 19. 
Figure 20. 
Figure 21. 
Figure 22. 
Figure 23. 

Figure 24. 
Figure 25. 
Figure 26. 
Figure 27. 
Figure 28. 
Figure 29. 
Figure 30. 
Figure 31. 
Figure 32. 
Figure 33. 
Figure 71. 
Figure 34. 
Figure 35. 
Figure 36. 
Figure 37. 
Figure 38. 
Figure 39. 
Figure 40. 
Figure 41. 
Figure 42. 
Figure 43. 
Figure 44. 
Figiire 45. 
Figure 46. 



ILLUSTRATIONS — Continued. 

PAGE 

The Attraction of the Ovum to Spermatozoa. . . 26 
An Embryo of the Mare, Artificially Conceived 30 
A Foetus of the Mare, Artificially Conceived . . 31 

Development of the Foetus, Fifth Day 40 

Development of tlie Foetus, Seventh Day 41 

Development of the Foetus, Ninth Day 42 

Development of the Foetus, Eleventh Day 43 

Development of the Foetus, Seventeenth Day. 44 
Development of the Foetus, Twenty-first Day. 45 
Development of the Foetus, Thirty-third Day. 46 
Deve'lopment of a Foetus in the Fallopian Tube 47 
Development of the Foetus in the Horn of the 

Uterus 48 

Germinal Tube of the Ovum 49 

The Percheron Stallion Nicolas 21997 (43394) 64 

A Breeding Chute 80 

A Percheron Mare and Her Foal 89 

Normal Presentation, at Parturition 95 

Posterior Presentation 97 

Malpresentation, Head Turned Back 99 

Buttock Presentation 102 

Doubled Presentation -104 

Bacillus of Sterile Stallion 117 

Section of Ovary of Barren Mai'e 120 

The Carlson Semen Extractor 138 

The Extractor in Use 141 

A High Class Percheron Foal. 147 

The Bacillus of Anthrax 159 

The Bacillus of Tetanus 160 

The Bacillus of Influenza 162 

The Bacillus of Strangles 163 

The Bacillus of Navel Infection 165 

Bacilli Causing Barrenness in Mares 167 

The Bacillus of Contagious Abortion in Mares. 172 

An Imported Belgian Stallion 175 

An Imported Shire Stallion 177 

" An Imported French Coach 'Stallion 178 



ILLUSTRATIONS— Continued. 

PAGE 

Figure 47. An Imported Haclvney Mare 181 

Figure 48. A Standard Bred Stallion 183 

Figure 49. A Standard Bred L-tallion 185 

Figure 50. A Saddle Bred Stallion 190 

Figure 51. A Pair of Shelties 192 

Figure 52. A Group of Jennets and Their Colts 203 

Figure 53. A Mammoth Jack ' 205 

Figure 54. A Cross Bred Stallion 209 

Figure 55. The Brain of the Horse 214 

Figure 56. The Human Brain 216 

Figure' 57. A Section of the Skull of the Horse 218 

Figure 58. Front View of a Horse's Head 219 

Figure 59. Side View of a Horse's Head 221 

Figure 60. Head of an Intelligent Horse 223 

Figure 61. Head of a Colt 224 

Figure 62. Head of a Timid Horse 225 

Figure 63. Head of a Timid Horse 226 

Figure 64. Head of a Stupid Horse 227 

Figure 65. Head of a Stupid Horse 228 

Figure 66. The Pastern of the Horse 234 

Figure 67. The Hock of the Horse 236 



APR 27 1910 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



